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Abstract Background Anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibodies have emerged as promising therapeutic options for the treatment of chronic migraine. However, treatment response varies considerably among individuals, suggesting a potential role for genetic factors. This study aimed to identify genetic variants affecting the efficacy of anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody therapy in chronic migraine among the Han Chinese population in Taiwan to enhance treatment precision and to understand the genetic architecture of migraine. Methods We conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) association study in patients with chronic migraines from a tertiary medical center in Taiwan using the Taiwan Precision Medicine Array Chip. The patients received fremanezumab or galcanezumab for at least 12 weeks. Treatment efficacy was assessed based on the improvement rate in monthly migraine days. Genetic variants were identified, and their associations with treatment efficacy were examined through quantitative trait loci analysis, linkage disequilibrium studies, and functional annotations using the Gene Ontology database. Results Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) relative variants were significantly associated with anti-CGRP therapy response (p

BackgroundIndividuals experiencing subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are at an increased risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Early identification of SCD and neurodegenerative diseases using biomarkers may help clinical decision-making and improve prognosis. However, few cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have explored plasma biomarkers in individuals with SCD using immunomagnetic reduction.ObjectiveTo identify plasma biomarkers for SCD.MethodsFifty-two participants [38 with SCD, 14 healthy controls (HCs)] underwent baseline assessments, including measurements of plasma Aβ42, Aβ40, t-tau, p-tau, and α-synuclein using immunomagnetic reduction (IMR) assays, cognitive tests and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Following initial cross-sectional analysis, 39 individuals (29 with SCD, 10 HCs) entered a longitudinal phase for reassessment of these biomarkers and the MMSE. Biomarker outcomes across different individual categories were primarily assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The SCD subgroup with an MMSE decline over one point was compared to those without such a decline.ResultsHigher baseline plasma Aβ1-42 levels significantly discriminated participants with SCD from HCs, with an acceptable area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 67.5% [95% confidence interval (CI), 52.7–80.0%]. However, follow-up and changes in MMSE and IMR data did not significantly differ between the SCD and HC groups (p > 0.05). Furthermore, lower baseline plasma Aβ1-42 levels were able to discriminate SCD subgroups with and without cognitive decline with a satisfied performance (AUC, 75.0%; 95% CI, 55.6–89.1%). At last, the changes in t-tau and Aβ42 × t-tau could differentiate between the two SCD subgroups (p

IntroductionSubjective cognitive decline (SCD) and migraine are often comorbid. Hippocampal structural abnormalities have been observed in individuals with both SCD and migraine. Given the known structural and functional heterogeneity along the long axis (anterior to posterior) of the hippocampus, we aimed to identify altered patterns of structural covariance within hippocampal subdivisions associated with SCD and migraine comorbidities.MethodsA seed-based structural covariance network analysis was applied to examine large-scale anatomical network changes of the anterior and posterior hippocampus in individuals with SCD, migraine and healthy controls. Conjunction analyses were used to identify shared network-level alterations in the hippocampal subdivisions in individuals with both SCD and migraine.ResultsAltered structural covariance integrity of the anterior and posterior hippocampus was observed in the temporal, frontal, occipital, cingulate, precentral, and postcentral areas in individuals with SCD and migraine compared with healthy controls. Conjunction analysis revealed that, in both SCD and migraine, altered structural covariance integrity was shared between the anterior hippocampus and inferior temporal gyri and between the posterior hippocampus and precentral gyrus. Additionally, the structural covariance integrity of the posterior hippocampus-cerebellum axis was associated with the duration of SCD.ConclusionThis study highlighted the specific role of hippocampal subdivisions and specific structural covariance alterations within these subdivisions in the pathophysiology of SCD and migraine. These network-level changes in structural covariance may serve as potential imaging signatures for individuals who have both SCD and migraine.

Here, we present TP-DB; a pattern-based search engine based on 1.67 million helices from the Protein Database (PDB). We demonstrate the utility of TP-DB in identifying microbe-specific antigens, as well as the design of antimicrobial peptides and Protein-protein interaction blockers.

IntroductionThe genetic association between depression and migraine has not been well investigated in Asian populations. Furthermore, the genetic basis of depression and comorbid migraine subtypes remains nebulous. Hence, in the current study we investigate the susceptibility loci associated with depression and migraine comorbidity in the Han Chinese population in Taiwan.MethodsWe perform a genome-wide association study involving 966 migraine patients, with or without comorbid depression. Genotyping is performed using participant genomic DNA. Association analyses are performed for the entire migraine cohort (subgroups: episodic migraine, chronic migraine, and migraine with or without aura).ResultsResults show that the single nucleotide polymorphism variants of the CDH4 intron region (rs78063755), NTRK3-AS1 downstream region (rs57729223), and between LINC01918 and GPR45 (rs2679891) are suggestively associated with depression. Twenty additional susceptibility loci occur within the subgroups. A multivariate association study demonstrated that a variant in the intron region of CDH4 rs78063755 was associated with Beck Depression Inventory and Migraine Disability Assessment scores.DiscussionThe findings of this study identify several genetic loci suggestively associated with depression among migraine patients in the Han Chinese population. Moreover, a potential genetic basis has been characterized for depression and migraine comorbidity, thus providing genetic candidates for further investigation.

Abstract Background Considering the involvement of genetics in migraine pathogenesis in diverse ethnic populations, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are being conducted to identify migraine-susceptibility genes. However, limited surveys have focused on the onset age of migraine (AoM) in Asians. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to identify the susceptibility loci of migraine considering the AoM in an Asian population. Methods We conducted a GWAS in 715 patients with migraine of Han Chinese ethnicity, residing in Taiwan, to identify the susceptibility genes associated with AoM. Based on our standard demographic questionnaire, the population was grouped into different subsets. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associations were examined using PLINK in different AoM onset groups. Results We discovered eight novel susceptibility loci correlated with AoM that reached the GWAS significance level in the Han Chinese population. First, rs146094041 in ESRRG was associated with AoM ≤ $$\le$$ 12 years. The other SNPs including rs77630941 in CUX1, rs146778855 in CDH18, rs117608715 in NOL3, rs150592309 in PRAP1, and rs181024055 in NRAP were associated with the later AoM. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first GWAS to investigate the AoM in an Asian Han Chinese population. Our newly discovered susceptibility genes may have prospective associations with migraine pathogenesis.

Abstract A laboratory scale, 1.0 CMM (m3 min− 1) wet scrubber packed with water-absorbing honeycomb material (HWS) with a very large geometric surface area of 480 m2 m− 3 and a low pressure drop developed in our previous study was shown to achieve a very high removal efficiency for acidic gases but there were no long-term test data. In this study, the HWS scaled up to operate at a 100 CMM flow rate was tested for removing mixed acidic gases at a semiconductor fab for a very long period of 3.5 yr. Results showed that the removal efficiency for the mixed gases emitted from the fab always maintained as high as > 95% for HF, CH3COOH, HCl, HNO3, HNO2, and H2SO4 with the inlet concentrations ranging from supper-ppmv to sub-ppmv, during a 3.5-yr period. With water jet cleaning of the honeycomb modules once per year, the pressure drop of the HWS remained to be low at 0.5–0.8 cm H2O, indicating minimal scaling in the HWS. Additionally, the predicted height and removal efficiencies of the HWS were very close to the experimental data. The excellent long-term performance of the HWS warrants its potential applications in many areas in which liquid absorption is the preferred treatment method and the theoretical equations can facilitate the design of the HWS.

Abstract Objective Several single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS). This study investigated whether or not additional SNP variants increase the risk of RLS in migraineurs and in migraine with aura (MA) and migraine without aura (MoA) subgroups. Methods Migraineurs with and without RLS were genotyped using an Affymetrix array. We performed association analyses for the entire cohort and the MA and MoA subgroups, which were divided further into episodic migraine (EM) and chronic migraine (CM). Potential correlations between SNPs and clinical indices in migraineurs with RLS were examined by multivariate regression analysis. Results The rs77234324 and rs79004933 SNPs were found in migraineurs with (P = 2.57E‐07) and without (P = 3.03E‐07) RLS. The A allele frequency for rs77234324 (on LGR6) was 0.1321 in migraineurs with RLS and 0.0166 in those without RLS (odds ratio, 8.978). The T allele frequency for rs79004933 (in the intergenic region) was 0.1981 in migraineurs with RLS and 0.0446 in those without (odds ratio, 5.281). rs2858654, rs76770509, rs4243475 in UTRN, rs150762626, and rs2668375 were identified in migraine with and without RLS in the MoA subgroup (P = 7.56E‐09, P = 2.30E‐08, P = 1.19E‐07, P = 6.86E‐07, and P = 8.05E‐07, respectively). There was a suggestion of an association between rs10510331 (P = 1.50E‐06) and CM and EM in patients with MoA and RLS. Multivariate regression showed a significant relationship between rs79004933 and the Beck Depression Inventory score. Interpretation rs77234324 in LGR6 and rs79004933 in the intergenic region were associated with RLS in migraineurs. Five SNPs increased the risk of RLS in patients with MoA.

Abstract Background The neuroprotective role of interleukin (IL)-33 is supported by numerous preclinical studies, but it remains uninvestigated in clinical studies of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We aimed to examine the association between human blood levels of IL-33 and cognitive preservation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and AD. Methods A total of 100 participants (26 controls, 35 aMCI patients, and 39 AD patients) completed two Mini-Mental State Examinations (MMSEs) over a 1-year interval. In all 100 participants at the second MMSE, we examined the plasma levels of IL-33, IL-β, IL-1 receptor agonist (IL-1RA), beta amyloid (Aβ), and tau and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotyping; we also performed Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Trail Making Test, forward and backward digit span, and Clinical Dementia Rating. Results IL-33 expression showed a positive trend among controls (1/26 = 3.8%), aMCI (9/35 = 25.7%), and AD (17/39 = 43.6%) (trend analysis: P

Abstract Background Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection is a major global health issue around the world. There are approximately 15–20 million individuals infected with HDV worldwide. HDV infection usually causes increased mortality compared with infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) alone. However, testing for the detection of HDV is not widely available in Taiwan. Therefore, the General Biologicals Corporation (GB) HDV Ab kit was developed for detecting anti-HDV antibodies. Methods A total of 913 serum and 462 EDTA-treated plasma samples were obtained from HBsAg-positive individuals in three hospitals in Taiwan from June 2014 to November 2017. We used three commercially available ELISA kits, DiaPro HDV Ab, DiaSorin ETI-AB-DELTAK-2 and GB HDV Ab, which were utilized strictly according to the instructions of the manufacturers. Results A comparative study of the results from the GB HDV Ab kit and the other commercial ELISA kits (DiaPro and DiaSorin) was performed to determine their efficacy for anti-HDV detection. The results indicated that the sensitivity of the GB HDV Ab kit for serum and EDTA samples was 100% compared to that of the DiaPro and DiaSorin kits, whereas the specificity for serum and EDTA samples was 99.3 and 98.1%, respectively. In addition, the overall agreement of the results of the GB HDV Ab kit for the serum and EDTA samples was 99.3 and 98.3%, respectively. It is worth noting that the performance of the GB HDV Ab kit was not affected by interference from triglyceride, bilirubin, hemoglobin, or human anti-mouse antibody. The limit of detection of the GB HDV Ab kit is approximately 100-fold lower than that of the other two commercial kits. Conclusions The GB HDV Ab kit, which presented equivalent sensitivity and specificity compared to both certified anti-HDV kits, would be a suitable kit for HDV diagnosis in Taiwan.

The genetic association between subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and migraine comorbidity remains unclear. Furthermore, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with SCD have not been identified previously. Migraineurs were genotyped using an Affymetrix array. The correlation between different SNP variants in migraineurs with or without SCD and non-migraine controls was investigated. Migraineurs with or without SCD were further divided for the analysis of relevant SNP variants linked to migraine with aura (MA), migraine without aura (MoA), episodic migraine (EM), and chronic migraine (CM). Significant connectivity between SNPs and clinical indices in migraineurs and non-migraine controls with SCD were assessed using multivariate regression analysis. The rs144191744 SNP was found in migraineurs (p = 3.19E-08), EM (p = 1.34E-07), and MoA(p = 7.69E-07) with and without SCD. The T allele frequency for rs144191744 in TGFBR3 was 0.0054 and 0.0445 in migraineurs with and without SCD (odds ratio, 0.12), respectively. rs2352564, rs6089473 in CDH4, rs112400385 in ST18, rs4488224 and rs17111203 in ARHGAP29 SNPs were found, respectively, in non-migraineurs (p = 4.85E-06, p = 8.28E-06), MoA (p = 3.13E-07), and CM subgroups (p = 1.05E-07, 6.24E-07) with and without SCD. Rs144191744 closely relates to SCD with the all-migraine group and the EM and MoA subgroups. In conclusion, rs144191744 in TGFBR3 was significantly associated with SCD in migraineurs, especially in the EM, MoA, and female patient subgroups. Furthermore, three SNPs (rs112400385, rs4488224, and rs17111203) were associated with SCD in migraineurs but not in non-migraine controls.

Low-cost sensors (LCS) have been increasingly deployed to monitor PM2.5 concentrations. More than 1500 LCS have been installed in Thailand to increase public awareness of air quality. However, performance of these sensors has not been systematically investigated. In this study, PM2.5 LCS were co-located next to a PM2.5 federal equivalent method (FEM) reference instrument at three Thai locations—in the north, center and northeast. We evaluated the performance of a PM2.5 LCS (PMS7003, Plantower) to understand the key factors affecting performance, including emission sources, relative humidity, temperature and PM2.5 concentration. Low PM concentration and high humidity levels had a significant impact on performance. Sensors in a high traffic emission area showed low correlation. The unadjusted PM2.5 LCS performance varied with locations. Errors were mainly observed at low concentrations. They significantly underestimated concentrations in congested urban environments. After calibration, accuracy was improved with multiple regression models. The performance of sensors only at Chiang Mai (CM) during the dry season and Ubon Ratchathani (URT) during the dry and wet seasons were acceptable with coefficient of variation: 5.8 ± 4.7–6.8 ± 5.0%, slope: 0.829–0.945, intercept: 1.12–5.49 µg/m3, R2: 0.880–0.934 and RMSE: 4.3–5.1 µg/m3. In the congested area in Bangkok (BKK), they underestimated concentrations of small particles.

The rate of cognitive decline among patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) varies, and it is thus crucial to accurately predict the probability of cognitive deterioration in patients with MCI. We compared the potential of cytokines with amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau biomarkers for predicting cognitive decline in patients with aMCI or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). All participants (controls, aMCI, and AD patients) underwent plasma biomarker examinations for Aβ1–40, Aβ1–42, total tau (t-tau), tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 [p-Tau181]), and 29 cytokines and baseline cognitive tests, including Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The correlation between biomarker levels and annual MMSE change during the follow-up was examined. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine whether the statistically significant plasma biomarkers could identify cognitive decline. Higher baseline levels of IL-2, sCD40L, IL-8, and VEGF were associated with a lower annual cognitive decline in the aMCI group, and higher baseline levels of Aβ1–40, IFNγ, IL-5, IL-17A, IL-25, and FGF were associated with a rapid annual cognitive decline in the AD group. IL-2 had a high discriminatory capacity for identifying cognitive decline, with an area under curve (AUC) of 85.7% in the aMCI group, and the AUC was slightly increased when combining IL-2 with Aβ or tau biomarkers. However, none of the biomarkers had a satisfactory discriminatory capacity in the AD group. IL-2 may have a better discriminatory capacity for identifying cognitive decline than Aβ and tau biomarkers in patients with aMCI.

Most previous studies on cluster headache (CH) focus on Western populations. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of CH in a neurology outpatient population in Taiwan. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 2015 to June 2019 in a medical college affiliated with a tertiary care hospital (Tri-Service General Hospital) in Taiwan. All consecutive patients reporting headache as their chief complaint were asked to participate in a face-to-face interview with a qualified headache specialist and to complete a detailed self-administered questionnaire. The diagnosis of CH was made according to the Third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. The subjects comprised 80 consecutive new CH patients (13 women and 67 men; ratio, 1:5). The mean age at presentation was 36.0 ± 10.8 years (range, 16–64 years), mean age at onset was 27.2 ± 12.1 years (range, 5–65 years), and mean time lag before diagnosis was 9.3 ± 10.5 years (range, 0–46.4 years). Of the total CH patients, 25.3% reported feelings of restlessness during headache episodes. A seasonal predilection was reported by 18% of the CH patients. The use of tobacco was the most common (44/80 patients). Chronic CH was only observed in 5% of the patients and only one patient (1.3%) reported both a positive family history for CH and aura. Features of CH in Taiwanese patients differed from that of Caucasian patients; a lower prevalence of chronic CH, positive family history of CH, and occurrence of aura may be less common in the former than in the latter.

To support advanced network services, Internet routers must perform packet classification based on a set of rules called packet filters. If two or more filters overlap, a filter conflict will occur and lead to ambiguity in packet classification. Further, it may affect network security or even the correctness of packet routing. Hence, it is necessary to detect conflicts to avoid the above problems. In recent years, many conflict detection algorithms have been proposed, but most of them detect conflicts for only prefix fields (i.e., source/destination IP address fields) of filters. For greater practicality, conflict detection must include non-prefix fields such as source/destination IP port fields and the protocol field. In this study, we propose an efficient conflict detection algorithm for five-dimensional filters, which include both prefix and non-prefix fields. In the proposed algorithm, a tiny lookup table is created for quickly filtering out a large portion of non-conflicting filter pairs, thereby reducing the overall conflict detection time. Experimental results show that our algorithm reduces the detection time by 10% to 28% compared with other conflict detection algorithms for 20 K filter databases. More importantly, our algorithm can be used to extend any existing conflict detection algorithms for two-dimensional filters to support fast conflict detection for five-dimensional filters.

Advanced network services, such as firewalls, policy-based routing, and virtual private networks, must rely on routers to classify packets into different flows based on packet headers and predefined filter tables. When multiple filters are overlapped, conflicts may occur, leading to ambiguity in the packet classification. Conflict detection ensures the correctness of packet classification and has received considerable attention in recent years. However, most conflict-detection algorithms are implemented on a conventional central processing unit (CPU). Compared with a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU) exhibits higher computing power with parallel computing, hence accelerates the execution speed of conflict detection. In this study, we employed a GPU to develop two efficient algorithms for parallel conflict detection: the general parallel conflict-detection algorithm (the GPCDA) and the enhanced parallel conflict-detection algorithm (the EPCDA). In the GPCDA, we demonstrate how to perform conflict detection through parallel execution on GPU cores. While in the EPCDA, we analyze the critical procedure in conflict detection as to reduce the number of matches required for each filter. In addition, the EPCDA adopts a workload balance method to enable load balancing of GPU execution threads, thereby significantly improving performance. The simulation results show that with the 100 K filter database, the GPCDA and the EPCDA execute conflict detection 2.8 to 13.9 and 9.4 to 33.7 times faster, respectively, than the CPU-based algorithm.

Seventy-two-hour unscheduled return visits (URVs) by emergency department patients are a key clinical index for evaluating the quality of care in emergency departments (EDs). This study aimed to develop a machine learning model to predict 72 h URVs for ED patients with abdominal pain. Electronic health records data were collected from the Chang Gung Research Database (CGRD) for 25,151 ED visits by patients with abdominal pain and a total of 617 features were used for analysis. We used supervised machine learning models, namely logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), and voting classifier (VC), to predict URVs. The VC model achieved more favorable overall performance than other models (AUROC: 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.69–0.76; sensitivity, 0.39; specificity, 0.89; F1 score, 0.25). The reduced VC model achieved comparable performance (AUROC: 0.72; 95% CI, 0.69–0.74) to the full models using all clinical features. The VC model exhibited the most favorable performance in predicting 72 h URVs for patients with abdominal pain, both for all-features and reduced-features models. Application of the VC model in the clinical setting after validation may help physicians to make accurate decisions and decrease URVs.

Migraine is commonly comorbid with insomnia; both disorders are linked to functional disturbance of the default mode network (DMN). Evidence suggests that DMN could be segregated into multiple subnetworks with specific roles that underline different cognitive processes. However, the relative contributions of DMN subnetworks in the comorbidity of migraine and insomnia remain largely unknown. This study sought to identify altered functional connectivity (FC) profiles of DMN subnetworks in the comorbidity of migraine and insomnia. Direct group comparisons with healthy controls, followed by conjunction analyses, were used to identify shared FC alterations of DMN subnetworks. The shared FC changes of the DMN subnetworks in the migraine and insomnia groups were identified in the dorsomedial prefrontal and posteromedial cortex subnetworks. These shared FC changes were primarily associated with motor and somatosensory systems, and consistently found in patients with comorbid migraine and insomnia. Additionally, the magnitude of FC between the posteromedial cortex and postcentral gyrus correlated with insomnia duration in patients with comorbid migraine and insomnia. Our findings point to specific FC alterations of the DMN subnetwork in migraine and insomnia. The shared patterns of FC disturbance may be associated with the underlying mechanisms of the comorbidity of the two disorders.

INTRODUCTION:The relationships between family history, sex, age at onset, and migraine occurrence have been documented. However, the associations between these factors across different sexes and subgroups of patients have yet to be elucidated. This study evaluated the association between family history and migraine in male and female patients experiencing episodic and chronic migraine with and without aura. METHODS:This cross-sectional, case-control study included 299 headache-free controls and 885 patients receiving outpatient treatment for migraine. Participants were classified into episodic (1-14 days/month) and chronic (≥15 days/month) migraine groups. RESULTS:Positive family history was significantly more frequently observed in the episodic group than in the chronic group (49.5% vs. 26%; P < 0.001) in male patients, particularly in male patients without aura (50.3% vs. 21.9%; P = 0.003); it was less frequently observed (58.7% vs. 73.7%; P = 0.048) in female patients with aura. Family history was correlated with an earlier age at onset (20.7 years vs. 22.8 years; P = 0.002), particularly in patients without aura (21 years vs. 23.7 years; P = 0.002), who were women (20.9 years vs. 23.9 years; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS:Different patterns of association between family history and migraine can be observed between men and women. A positive family history of migraine is correlated with an earlier age at onset, particularly among female patients without aura.

Background: Perceived stress has been related to migraine. The relationship between sex, migraine frequency, and severity of perceived stress remains unclear. We investigated perceived stress among migraineurs.Methods: This cross-sectional case-control study involved 577 clinical outpatients at a tertiary hospital in Taiwan. Demographic and clinical data, including migraine characteristics, were collected. Migraineurs were stratified by episode frequency, aura and sex, and analyses were controlled for confounding variables. Multivariable linear regressions were used to inspect whether migraine frequency (1–4, 5–8, 9–14, or ≥15 headache days per month) was associated with perceived stress as assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).Results: Perceived stress was significantly higher in high frequency migraineurs (mean ± standard deviation (SD), 23.3 ± 8.7) than in low frequency migraineurs (mean ± SD, 21.9 ± 9.2; P < 0.05). After stratifying the analysis by sex, this result was observed in male subjects, but was insignificant in female subjects. In addition, the relationship between migraine frequency and perceived stress was not prominent in aura-present or -absent subgroups.Conclusions: Higher perceived stress was associated with higher migraine frequency, but not in chronic migraine and female subgroups. Adaptation to migraine and various psychiatric comorbidities may contribute to these associations.

Background: Chronic inflammation has been linked to stroke, but it is not known whether atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronically inflammatory skin disease, is related to stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of AD and stroke. Materials and Methods: In this population-based, cohort study, data were collected from a Longitudinal Health Insurance Database released from the National Health Research Institute in Taiwan in 2011. All patients with AD between 2000 and 2006 without prior stroke were included and an age- and gender-matched cohort without prior stroke, 4-fold of the AD sample size, was served as the control group. The two cohorts were followed until the end of 2010 for stroke incidence. Cox's proportional hazards regressions were used to assess the difference in stroke risk between groups. Results: During the follow-up period of 4–11 years, 471 (incidence: 4.46/1,000 person-years) and 1497 (incidence: 3.56/1,000 person-years) stroke incidents were noted in the study and control cohort, respectively. The patients with AD had an increased incidence of ischemic stroke (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–1.36) but not hemorrhagic stroke (adjusted HR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.74–1.29). The severity of AD was significantly correlated with the risk of ischemic stroke. Conclusions: These results suggest that AD is independently associated with ischemic stroke but not with hemorrhagic stroke. The risk of ischemic stroke is correlated significantly with the severity of AD. Further research is necessary to explore the underlying mechanism.

Background: Migraines with aura have been associated with suicide in adolescents and young adults, but the association between suicide and migraine frequency has not been determined. This study investigated suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among patients with varying frequencies of migraines, with and without auras.Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed 528 patients aged between 20 and 60 years from a headache outpatient clinic in Taiwan. All patients completed a set of questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Suicide risk was evaluated by self-reported lifetime suicidal ideation and attempts. Patients were divided into low-frequency (1–4 days/month), moderate-frequency (5–8 days/month), high-frequency (9–14 days/month), and chronic (≥15 days/month) migraine groups. The association between migraine frequency and suicidality was investigated using multivariable linear regression and logistic regression.Results: The rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were the highest for chronic migraine with aura (ideation: 47.2%; attempts: 13.9%) and lowest in migraine-free controls (2.8%). Migraine frequency was an independent risk factor for suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with aura (both Ptrend < 0.001), but not in patients without auras. Migraine aura and depression were associated with higher risks of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in patients with migraine.Conclusion: High migraine frequency has a correlation with high suicide risk in patients who experience an aura, but not in other patients with migraine.

The emergence of drug resistance to Candida albicans is problematic in the clinical setting. Therefore, developing new antifungal drugs is in high demand. Our previous work indicated that the antimicrobial peptide P-113Tri exhibited higher antifungal activity against planktonic cells, biofilm cells, and clinical isolates of Candida species compared to its parental peptide P-113. In this study, we further investigated the difference between these two peptides in their mechanisms against C. albicans. Microscopic examination showed that P-113 rapidly gained access to C. albicans cells. However, most of the P-113Tri remained on the cell surface. Moreover, using a range of cell wall-defective mutants and competition assays, the results indicated that phosphomannan and N-linked mannan in the cell wall are important for peptide binding to C. albicans cells. Furthermore, the addition of exogenous phosphosugars reduced the efficacy of the peptide, suggesting that negatively charged phosphosugars also contributed to the peptide binding to the cell wall polysaccharides. Finally, using a glycan array, P-113Tri, but not P-113, can bind to other glycans commonly present on other microbial and mammalian cells. Together, these results suggest that P-113 and P-113Tri have fundamental differences in their interaction with C. albicans and candidacidal activities.

The use of AI-based social robots has been shown to be beneficial for learning English as a Second Language (ESL). Not much is known, however, about the drivers of parental intention to use those robots in support of their children's ESL learning. This study aims to explore the factors that drive parental intention to adopt AI-based social robots for children's ESL learning. The research model is proposed based on the theories and literature regarding motivations, product smartness, personality traits and physical risk perception. Data collected from 315 participants are analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. The results show that utilitarian and hedonic motivations positively affect parental intention to adopt AI-based social robots. In addition, utilitarian motivation is influenced by robots' autonomy and parental personal innovativeness, while hedonic motivation is influenced by robots' autonomy and humanlike interaction, and parental personal innovativeness. From the findings, important implications for promoting parental intention to adopt AI-based social robots in children's ELS learning are offered.

This study explores the changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) activity associated with the performance of solving an optics maze problem. College students (N = 37) were instructed to construct three solutions to the optical maze in a Web-based learning environment, which required some knowledge of physics. The subjects put forth their best effort to minimize the number of convexes and mirrors needed to guide the image of an object from the entrance to the exit of the maze. This study examines EEG changes in different frequency bands accompanying varying demands on the cognitive process of providing solutions. Results showed that the mean power of θ, α1, α2, and β1 significantly increased as the number of convexes and mirrors used by the students decreased from solution 1 to 3. Moreover, the mean power of θ and α1 significantly increased when the participants constructed their personal optimal solution (the least total number of mirrors and lens used by students) compared to their non-personal optimal solution. In conclusion, the spectral power of frontal, frontal midline and posterior theta, posterior alpha, and temporal beta increased predominantly as the task demands and task performance increased.