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Erectile dysfunction (ED) is an inability to attain or maintain adequate penile erection for successful vaginal intercourse, leading to sexual and relationship dissatisfaction. To combat ED, various surgical and non-surgical approaches have been developed in the past to restore erectile functions. These therapeutic interventions exhibit significant impact in providing relief to patients; however, due to their associated adverse effects and lack of long-term efficacy, newer modalities such as regenerative therapeutics have gained attention due to their safe and prolonged efficacy. Stem cells and platelet-derived biomaterials contained in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are thriving as some of the major therapeutic regenerative agents. In recent years, various preclinical and clinical studies have evaluated the individual, as well as combined of stem cells and PRP to restore erectile function. Being rich in growth factors, chemokines, and angiogenic factors, both stem cells and PRP play a crucial role in regenerating nerve cells, myelination of axons, homing and migration of progenitor cells, and anti-fibrosis and anti-apoptosis of damaged cavernous nerve in corporal tissues. Further, platelet-derived biomaterials have been proven to be a biological supplement for enhancing the proliferative and differentiation potential of stem cells towards neurogenic fate. Therefore, this article comprehensively analyzes the progresses of these regenerative therapies for ED. more...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after surgical resection compromises patient survival. Timely detection of HCC recurrence and its clonality is required to implement salvage therapies appropriately. This study examined the feasibility of virus-host chimera DNA (vh-DNA), generated from junctions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) integration in the HCC chromosome, as a circulating biomarker for this clinical setting. APPROACH AND RESULTS HBV integration in 50 patients with HBV-related HCC was determined by the Hybridization capture-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform. For individual HCC, the vh-DNA was quantified by specific droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay in plasma samples collected before and 2 months after surgery. HBV integrations were identified in 44 out of 50 patients with HBV-related HCC. Tumor-specific ddPCR was developed to measure the corresponding vh-DNA copy number in baseline plasma from each patient immediately before surgery. vh-DNA was detected in 43 patients (97.7%), and the levels correlated with the tumor sizes (detection limit at 1.5 cm). Among the plasma collected at 2 months after surgery, 10 cases (23.3%) still contained the same signature vh-DNA detected at baseline, indicating the presence of residual tumor cells. Nine of them (90%) experienced HCC recurrence within 1 year, supporting vh-DNA as an independent risk factor in predicting early recurrence. Analysis of circulating vh-DNA at recurrence further helped identify the clonal origin. A total of 81.8% of recurrences came from original HCC clones sharing the same plasma vh-DNA, whereas 18.2% were from de novo HCC. CONCLUSIONS vh-DNA was shown to be a circulating biomarker for detecting the tumor load in majority of patients with HBV-related HCC and aided in monitoring residual tumor and recurrence clonality after tumor resection. more...

Background/objectives Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a hereditary disease that is also strongly dependent on environmental factors, lifestyles, and dietary habits. This study explored the relationship between lifestyle habits and glycosylated hemoglobin management in T2DM patients to provide empirical outcomes to improve T2DM management and patient health literacy. Subjects/methods This study enrolled 349 diabetic patients with more than 5 care visits to a Diabetes Mellitus care network under the Health Management Plan led by Taiwan Department of Health (DOH). Based on relevant literature, an Outpatient Record Form of Diabetes Mellitus Care was designed and lipid profile tests were conducted for data collection and analysis. Results When modeling the data, the results showed that the odds for HbA1c > 7.5% in T2DM patients duration over 10 years was 3.785 (P = 0.002) times that in patients with disease duration of fewer than 3 years. The odds of HbA1c > 7.5% in illiterate patients was 3.128 (P = 0.039) times that in patients with senior high school education or above. The odds of HbA1c > 7.5% in patients with other chronic illness was 2.207 (P = 0.019) times that in participants without chronic illness. Among 5 beneficial lifestyle habits, the odds of HbA1c > 7.5% in patients with 2 or 3 good habits were 3.243 (P = 0.003) and 3.424 (P = 0.001) times that in patients with more than 3 good habits, respectively. Conclusion This empirical outcome shows that maintaining a good lifestyle improves T2DM management and patients' knowledge, motivation, and ability to use health information. Patients with longer disease duration, education, or good lifestyle habits had optimal HbA1c management than those in patients who did not. Thus, effective self-management and precaution in daily life and improved health literacy of diabetic patients are necessary to increase the quality of T2DM care. more...

4090 Background: About one-third of patients suffer tumor recurrence within the first year after surgical resection of HCC. Early recurrence compromised their overall survival. Timing detection of HCC recurrence and its clonality is required to implement therapeutic trials appropriately. This study examined the virus-host chimera DNA (vh-chimera DNA), generated from junctions of HBV integration in HCC chromosome and released into blood, as a potential circulating biomarker for this clinical setting. Methods: We established a capture-next generation sequencing (NGS) platform to identify the HBV integrations in 50 resected HBV-related HCC. For individual HCC, the major clonal HBV integration sites were chosen to design specific primers for droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to detect and quantify the vh-chimera DNA in plasma samples, collected either just before surgery or two months after surgery. Levels of vh-chimera DNA were then correlated with baseline HCC size or recurrence in one-year follow up. Results: We succeeded in detecting HBV integrations in the HCC from 44 out of 50 HBV-related HCC patients (88%). The copy number of vh-chimera DNA in plasma at surgery from 42 patients correlated with tumor sizes, with the detection limit at 1.5-2 cm. Among the plasma collected 2 months after surgery, 26.2% of samples contained the same HCC signature vh-chimera DNA as baseline plasma, indicating a possible residual tumor. Consistently, 81.8% of them suffered HCC recurrence within one year. The signature vh-DNA in the plasma suggested the majority of recurrences coming from the original HCC clones, whereas 2 from de novo ones. Conclusions: This study supported vh-chimera DNA as a new circulation marker for detecting the existence of most HBV-related HCC. This new biomarker may complement AFP to help detect residual or recurrent HCC and their clonality after curative therapies. more...

Based on the detailed core data and logging data from Toutai oil field and applying correlative technique of fluvial facies reservoir, through guiding wells selection, key beds determination, progressive oil layer subdivision of all wells, fine stratigraphic classification and correlation are carried out. The Fuyu oil layer in Toutai oil field is divided into 3 sand groups, 18 sublayers and 37 sedimentary units, consequently, monosandbody-scale isochronal stratigraphic framework is established, which can provide geologic basic data for further study on sedimentary microfacies, sand body distribution, oil and water distribution and favorable target prediction. more...

This study examines the Taiwanese institutional arrangements for ocean and coastal management to explore the development of ocean and coastal management in Taiwan 20 years after the “Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.” First, we employed purposive sampling to distribute questionnaires among industry personnel, government officials and personnel, scholars, and personnel of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) involved in institutional arrangements for ocean and coastal management. We recovered 159 effective copies of the 323 distributed questionnaires, for an effective recovery rate of 49.2%. Subsequently, we used descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Scheffe's method for post hoc tests to analyze whether the four groups of participants had differing perspectives or cognition levels of the three dimensions and multiple criteria of the institutional arrangements. The results show that (1) for state organizational arrangements, the four groups all disagreed with the Taiwanese g... more...

Background Prostate cancer (PCa) has a propensity to metastasize to bone. Tumor cells replace bone marrow and can elicit an osteoblastic, osteolytic, or mixed bone response. Our objective was to elucidate the mechanisms and key factors involved in promoting osteoclastogenesis in PCa bone metastasis. more...