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Background: The issue of whether there exists an own-effect on facial recognition in the elderly remains equivocal. Moreover, currently the literature of this issue in pathological aging is little. Objective: Our study was thus to explore the issue in both of healthy older people and patients with AD Methods: In study 1, 27 older and 31 younger healthy adults were recruited; in study 2, 27 healthy older adults and 80 patients (including subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) groups) were recruited. Participants received the Taiwan Facial Emotion Recognition Task (FER Task), and a clinical neuropsychological assessment. Results: No significant differences on the FER test were found among our groups, except for sadness recognition in which our MCI and AD patients’ scores were remarkably lower than their healthy counterparts. The own-age effect was not significantly evident in healthy younger and older adults, except for recognizing neutral photos. Our patients with MCI and AD tended to have the effect, particularly for the sad recognition in which the effect was significantly evident in terms of error features (mislabeling it as anger in younger-face and neutral in older-face photos). Conclusion: Our results displayed no remarkable own-age effect on facial emotional recognition in the healthy elderly (including SCD). However, it did not appear the case for MCI and AD patients, especially their recognizing those sadness items, suggesting that an inclusion of the FER task particularly involving those items of low-intensity emotion in clinical neuropsychological assessment might be contributory to the early detection of AD-related pathological individuals.

Background Childhood asthma is a common disease whose prevalence is changing. Shift in environmental exposure was one of the plausible explanations. This study investigated changes in the association between childhood asthma and ambient air pollution occurring over time. Method A nationwide questionnaire survey concerning respiratory illness and symptoms was administered to Taiwanese elementary and middle school students in 2011 and repeatedly in 2016-2017. During the study period, the concentrations of ambient air pollutants were obtained from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) monitoring stations. Generalized estimating equation models were applied to examine the association between air pollution in the past year and the risk of current asthma. Results A total of 6346 children from the 2011 survey and 11 585 children from the 2016-2017 survey attended schools located within a 1-km radius of Taiwan EPA monitoring stations. The prevalence of childhood current asthma (children with physician-diagnosed asthma and persistent asthma symptoms in the past year) increased from 7.5% to 9.6% during this period. The level of exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5 ) in the past year was found to be associated with current asthma both in the 2011 survey (odds ratio (OR): 1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.41-2.57) and in the 2016-2017 survey (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.04-1.48). Conclusion Improved air quality has reduced the effect of PM2.5 on childhood asthma, but air quality remains a health concern in Taiwan.

Immunotherapy using checkpoint blockade has revolutionized cancer treatment, improving patient survival and quality of life. Nevertheless, the clinical outcomes of such immunotherapy are highly heterogeneous between patients. Depending on the cancer type, the patient response rates to this immunotherapy are limited to 20-30%. Based on the mechanism underlying the antitumor immune response, new therapeutic strategies have been designed with the aim of increasing the effectiveness and specificity of the antitumor immune response elicited by checkpoint blockade agents. The activation of toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) by its synthetic agonists induces the antitumor response within the innate immunity arm, generating adjuvant effects and priming the adaptive immune response elicited by checkpoint blockade during the effector phase of tumor-cell killing. This review first describes the underlying mechanisms of action and current status of monotherapy using TLR9 agonists and immune checkpoint inhibitors for cancer immunotherapy. The rationale for combining these two agents is discussed, and evidence indicating the current status of such combination therapy as a novel cancer treatment strategy is presented.

The new WiFi 11ax standard carries several improvements compared to its 11g/ac predecessor. It supports multi-user MIMO and uses OFDMA modulation, which enables users to share the same channel via allocated Resource Units (RU). In addition, it provides transmit power adjustments for better operation in a dense environment. Furthermore, the standard calls for the support of MCS11 1024-QAM modulation with target transmit (TX) EVM of −35dB, which results in nearly 25% higher throughput compared to MCS9 256QAM. In order to improve user experience to guarantee signal quality between walls and obstacles, a

Fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) induces free radicals and oxidative stress in animals, leading to a range of illnesses. In this study, Ganoderma Microsporum immunomodulatory (GMI) proteins were administered to alleviate PM2.5-induced inflammatory responses in mother rats, and PM2.5-induced inflammatory responses and neurological damage in their offspring. The results suggested that GMI administration decreased the risk of neurological disorders in mother rats and their offspring by reducing the white blood cell count, lessening inflammatory responses and PM2.5-induced memory impairment, and preventing dendritic branches in the hippocampi from declining and microRNAs from PM2.5-induced modulation.

Background Exposure to ambient fine particles, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), is a public health concern. Concentrations of ambient PM2.5 have changed temporally in the past 10 years after a series of action policies for improving air quality were implemented in Taiwan. In this study, temporal changes in the relationship between PM2.5 and lung function among children were investigated. Methods A nationwide respiratory health survey was conducted among Taiwanese elementary and middle school students in 2011 and again in 2016–2017. A questionnaire was administered to students, for whom forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) were measured using spirometry. During the study period, monthly concentrations of ambient PM2.5 were obtained from the monitoring stations of the Environmental Protection Administration. Lung function measurements were compared with ambient PM2.5 exposure using mixed-effects models. Results In the 2011 survey (mean PM2.5: 40.6 μg/m3), exposure to PM2.5 in the preceding 1–2 months was associated with a 2.2% decrease (95% confidence interval [CI]: −4.1%, −0.3%) in FVC and a 2.3% decrease (95% CI: −4.0%, −0.5%) in FEV1. By contrast, a significant relationship between PM2.5 concentrations and lung function was not observed in the 2016–2017 survey (mean PM2.5: 30.0 μg/m3). Conclusions As improvement in air quality over time, the negative relationship between PM2.5 and childhood lung function tend to be not significant.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common childhood skin disease and the first step of atopic march. Perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure is associated with atopic diseases, including AD. However, whether PFAS exposure is related to earlier AD onset remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between prenatal PFAS exposure and earlier onset of AD in children in a 5-year follow-up study. From 2001 to 2005, 1264 mother-infant pairs were recruited from eight Taiwanese maternity hospitals. PFAS levels were analyzed from cord blood. Information on children's health status, including AD occurrence, was obtained via phone interviews at multiple time points. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentrations were measured by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Cox proportional hazards models assessed associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and early onset AD. Overall, 863 mother–infant pairs with complete measurements were recruited. The prevalence of physician-diagnosed AD before 5 years of age was 7.1%. PFOA and PFOS concentrations were grouped based on whether they were above the 75th percentile. PFOA exposure was positively associated with earlier onset of AD (Kaplan-Meier estimate, p = 0.014). In the Cox model, after adjusting for sex, family income, parental atopy, breast feeding, and maternal age at childbirth, significance was observed in children above the upper quartile (≥75th) of the PFOA group (hazard ratio: 1.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.10–3.16). Our findings suggested that children with higher prenatal PFOA exposure have a higher risk of earlier AD development. Minimizing early life PFAS exposure may help inhibit AD development.

Orchidaceae constitute one of the largest families of angiosperms. They are one of the most ecological and evolutionary significant plants and have successfully colonized almost every habitat on earth. Because of the significance of plant biology, market needs and the current level of breeding technologies, basic research into orchid biology and the application of biotechnology in the orchid industry are continually endearing scientists to orchids in Taiwan. In this introductory review, we give an overview of the research activities in orchid biology and biotechnology, including the status of genomics, transformation technology, flowering regulation, molecular regulatory mechanisms of floral development, scent production and color presentation. This information will provide a broad scope for study of orchid biology and serve as a starting point for uncovering the mysteries of orchid evolution.

One of the most fundamental devices for integrated optics is the beam splitter, which is often realized with a directional coupler. However, it is well known that the robustness of such devices against wavelength and/or fabrication parameter variations is limited. Three waveguide couplers based on the quantum-optical analogy of the stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP) protocol have emerged as a promising solution to the aforementioned issues of device robustness [1, 2]. The tradeoff is that the adiabatic devices are generally longer than their non-adiabatic counterparts. Recently, devices using shortcuts to adiabaticity [3] have been shown to provide alternative robust beam coupling as the adiabatic devices, but at a shorter device length [4]. In this paper, we use the invariant-based inverse engineering [5] to realize a short and robust arbitrary splitting ratio three waveguide beam splitter.

* BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Both vitrectomy and scleral buckling have been used to treat patients with stage 4 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The standard procedure of scleral buckling for treatment of stage 4 ROP is encircling scleral buckling. The effectiveness of segmental scleral buckling is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to analyze the surgical results of patients with stage 4 retinopathy of prematurity treated with either encircling or segmental scleral buckling. * PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the anatomic outcomes of 23 eyes (18 infants) with stage 4 A or B ROP treated with scleral buckling. Segmental buckling was used to treat 15 eyes with detachment limited to the temporal side of the retina, while 9 eyes with detachment involving both the nasal and temporal sides were treated with encircling scleral buckling. * RESULTS: Macular reattachment during a mean follow-up periord of 34 months (range: 2 weeks to 9 years) was accomplished in 11 (79%) of the 14 eyes treated with segmental scleral buckling and 4 (44%) of the 9 eyes that received encircling scleral buckling. There were no intraoperative complications recorded. None of the eyes that achieved macular reattachment developed recurrent macular detachment during the follow-up period. * CONCLUSIONS: Scleral buckling appears to be effective for treatment of stage 4 ROP. In patients with temporal side retinal detachment only, segmental scleral buckling provides adequate treatment for stage 4 ROP. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers 2000;31:374-379]

A liquid droplet deposited on a hydrophobic surface with a square-array cosine wave-like pattern is simulated by using the Surface Evolver to study on the Cassie–Wenzel wetting transition. All the metastable states of a liquid drop with a fixed drop volume on the model surface are determined at different surface roughnesses. The maximum/minimum contact angles among the metastable states at each surface roughness correspond to the advancing/receding contact angles. It is interesting to find out that when the surface roughness is slightly smaller than the transition roughness (between the Wenzel and Cassie states) the drop under the condition of the advancing and receding contact angle would exhibit the Cassie and Wenzel state, respectively. Both experimental and simulation results demonstrate that a liquid droplet of a fixed volume on patterned substrates may exhibit either the Wenzel state or the Cassie state at a certain surface roughness. An increase in the surface roughness may induce the wetting transition from the Wenzel state to the Cassie state to occur. The slip-jump behavior of an advancing contact line with increasing drop volume at different viewing angles is carefully discussed to demonstrate the distorted three-phase contact line. Effect of surface roughness and drop size on liquid penetration into groove of the model surface is discussed.

Cartoon caricatures have moved from the comic pages to every form of visual medium; the image of a politician in campaign promotions, the representation of a singer on a Web site or CD jacket, and the picture of a bride and groom on their wedding invitation. From television programs, television newscasts, movie screens, newspapers, brochures, pamphlets, posters, and textbooks: Cartoon caricatures are omnipresent. The purpose of this study is to make use of image processing technologies, including a modified snake algorithm and a method of weighted synthesizing, to develop an application with an uncomplicated user interface so that a developer with little or no artistic training can create a caricature of a visually admirable quality by following a few uncomplicated steps. This paper includes images for both PC platform and PDA platform user interfaces for illustration of the applications operation and results

In this study, a novel location-based service which fulfills the Pac-Man game by retrieving the users’ location information with GPS equipments in a natural campus environment is proposed. We design an integrated communication architecture of the client (PDA) and the server (Web server), and transform the GPS position information into the corresponding coordinates on campus e-map to implement this system. Dijkstra‘s Algorithm is used for the path planning of ghost chasing. This scheme has been implemented on the campus of Chang-Jung Christian University in Taiwan. The interfaces for both the client (PAD) and the server (Web server) of running this system are also illustrated in this paper.