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Epinephelus lanceolatus (giant grouper) is a high-value cultured species in the Asia-Pacific region. However, nervous necrosis virus (NNV) is an infectious viral disease that affects over 120 species of marine cultured species and causes high mortality, ranging from 90-100% in the grouper industry. Probiotics isolated from the intestines of healthy individuals have provided insight into novel approaches involved in the defense against viral pathogens. In this study, we isolated three strains of bacteria as candidate probiotics from healthy grouper intestines and a 28-day feeding trial was performed. At day 21, the nervous necrosis virus (NNV) challenge test was conducted for 7 days to evaluate the antiviral effect of candidate probiotics. The results showed that candidate probiotics could improve growth conditions, such as weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR), and increase the utilization of feed. Furthermore, the candidate probiotic mixture had the ability to protect against NNV, which could decrease the mortality rate by 100% in giant grouper after NNV challenge. Subsequently, we analyzed the mechanism of the candidate probiotic mixture's defense against NNV. A volcano plot revealed 203 (control vs. NNV), 126 (NNV vs. probiotics - NNV), and 5 (control vs. probiotics - NNV) differentially expressed transcripts in intestinal tissue. Moreover, principal components analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis heatmap showed large differences among the three groups. Functional pathway analysis showed that the candidate probiotic mixture could induce the innate and adaptive immunity of the host to defend against virus pathogens. Therefore, we hope that potential candidate probiotics could be successfully applied to the industry to achieve sustainable aquaculture.

In the summer of 2016, the widespread popularization of the game Pokémon Go brought the public's attention to the possible socialization benefits associated with location-based mobile games (LBMGs), yet no studies to date have investigated this issue. LBMGs deserve greater research attention because this type of game provides a unique gaming experience that encourages players to leave their homes and navigate around their neighborhood. This distinctive feature may promote more face-to-face interactions among LBMG players. Grounded in social capital theories, the present study compared the levels of both bridging and bonding social capital between LBMG and non-LBMG players. More important, we formulated a multiple-process model to explain the hypothesized psychological mechanisms underlying social capital accumulation among LBMG players. Participants were 349 U.S. participants (57 percent men; M age  = 32.40, SD age  = 7.92, age range = 19-66). Results supported the proposed model by revealing that face-to-face interaction was crucial to the accrual of both bridging and bonding social capital among LBMG players, through enhancing their levels of communication frequency and self-disclosure. The present findings have implications for the utilization of LBMG as a potential tool to promote face-to-face interactions and accumulate social capital.

Introduction: The chemokine CXCL12, designated stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), plays a significant role in many cancer metastases. Previous studies have shown that CXCL12-G801A, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 3' untranslated region, correlates with breast and lung cancer in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of the gene variant CXCL12-G801A with colorectal cancer (CRC) in a Taiwanese cohort., Material and Methods: In this study, we used a denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) method to analyze the frequencies of CXCL12-G801A polymorphic variants between CRC patients (n = 258) and healthy controls (n = 300) in Taiwan., Results: The SNP distribution was higher in CRC patients with TNM stage II (117/258) than healthy controls (52/300). We observed a significant increase in the G/A plus A/A genotype of the CXCL12-G801A polymorphism in CRC patients (45.35%) compared with healthy controls (17.33%). The analysis of allelic frequencies in both groups revealed that CRC patients have a higher frequency of A allele (23.45%) than healthy controls (8.67%). Furthermore, among older CRC patients, the frequency of the CXCL12-G801A genotype was significantly increased (p = 0.0148)., Conclusions: Our observations suggest that the CXCL12-G801A genotype may be associated with some clinical manifestations in CRC patients in Taiwan.

Background/aims: This study evaluated the efficacy of partial endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) (snare polypectomy after nearly 70-90% of dissection on the final step) in the treatment of gastric neoplasm, especially when performed by clinicians in learning period., Methodology: A total of 243 lesions from 205 patients were enrolled. One gastroenterologist who was beginner in ESD procedure performed ESD by hook knife. Complete resection rate, procedure time, en bloc resection rate, and complications between ESD and partial ESD groups., Results: Partial ESD was performed in 102 (42%) cases. No significant differences were observed between two groups in complete resection rate (95.1% vs. 90.1%), mean procedure time 71 +/- 63 vs. 66 +/- 46 minutes), observation of delayed bleeding (12.7% vs. 10.9%), and perforation (0.7% vs. 2.0%). En bloc resection rate was higher in ESD group (91.5% vs. 75.2%, p < 0.01) and immediate bleeding was more frequent in partial ESD group (39.4% vs. 57.4%, p = 0.01). However, ESD involving specimen size < or = 3 cm, difference was not seen in any of the variables. The complete resection rate was significantly improved after the physician performed more than 50 cases (p = 0.03)., Conclusions: Partial ESD method in the treatment of specimen size < or = 3 cm may improve the stability and feasibility of ESD, especially for inexperienced clinicians.

Objective: Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) of 6-10 mmHg has been accepted as a hemodynamic parameter of stage 1 compensated liver cirrhosis (LC). The diagnostic accuracy of HVPG in the prediction of stage 1 compensated LC has been investigated in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)., Methods: A total of 219 patients with CHB who underwent HVPG and liver biopsy were enrolled. The diagnostic accuracy of two methods was compared. Risk factors associated with the diagnosis of stage 1 compensated LC on the basis of the findings of HVPG, biopsy, and both HVPG and biopsy were evaluated., Results: The HVPG score was correlated positively with the stage of biopsy (r=0.439). The sensitivity/specificity of HVPG for predicting stage 1 compensated LC were 78/81% in 6 mmHg, respectively. A total of 57 (26%), 28 (13%), and 20 (9%) patients were diagnosed with stage 1 compensated LC on the basis of the findings of HVPG, biopsy, and both HVPG and biopsy (P>0.05), respectively. Platelet/age (-0.77-0.01×platelet+0.03×age), albumin/platelet (5.05-1.19×albumin-0.01×platelet), and platelet (0.24-0.01×platelet) were found to be risk factors (logit model) for the diagnosis of stage 1 compensated LC on the basis of the findings of HVPG, biopsy, and both HVPG and biopsy., Conclusion: HVPG showed a positive correlation with biopsy, and platelet was found to be a common risk factor for the diagnosis of stage 1 compensated LC in patients with CHB.

Anti-oxidative and immunologic effects of the Korea red ginseng (KRG; Panax ginseng) and urushiol (Rhus vernicifera Stokes) on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were evaluated. Forty-five rats (five Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka and 40 Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty [OLETF] rats) received chew diets for 10months; after this period. The OLETF rats were divided into the following four groups according to diet for 2months: NAFLD (chew), KRG (chew+KRG [200mg/kg/day]), urushiol (chew+urushiol [0.5mg/kg/day]), and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) (chew+UDCA [15mg/kg/day]) groups. Liver function, lipid profiles and anti-oxidant activity of liver and serum, natural killer (NK) cell activity, and pathology were compared. In KRG and urushiol groups, the level of serum triglyceride ([302.0±70.4 and 275.2±63.8] vs. 527.7±153.3mg/dL) were lower compared with that of NAFLD group (p<0.05). The levels of HDL-cholesterol (liver tissue: [4.8±0.2 and 4.8±0.5] vs. 4.2±0.2mg/g) and NK cell activity ([3485±910 and 3559±910] vs. 2486±619 counts) were significantly higher than those of the NAFLD group (p<0.001). Inflammation with neutrophil infiltration was observed in only two rats in the NAFLD group. These results suggest that 2months of oral KRG or urushiol administration improves lipid profiles and stimulates NK cell activity, while inhibiting steatohepatitis in OLEFT rats., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The accuracies of biomarkers checked in the hepatic vein (HV) and peripheral vein (PV) were compared in the prediction of advanced fibrosis (AF) of liver., Methods: Patients with chronic viral hepatitis (n=101) who underwent hepatic venous pressure gradient, liver biopsy, and paired HV-PV samples (6 biomarkers: hyaluronic acid [HA], haptoglobin, matrix metalloproteinase-2 [MMP2], tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 [TIMP1], procollagen III N-terminal peptide [PIIINP], and apolipoprotein-A1 [Apo-A1]) were enrolled., Results: Differences were displayed between the HV and PV in the predictive logit-models for predicting AF (-3.13+0.017×MMP2-0.019×haptoglobin and -0.270+0.007×HA-0.018×haptoglobin, respectively). In the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves, PIIINP (0.74/0.68, p=0.03), MMP2 (0.72/0.63, p=0.04), HA (0.79/0.76, p=0.94), Apo-A1 (0.56/0.48, p=0.73), and predictive logit-model (0.81/0.78, p=0.68) showed higher diagnostic value in the HV sample., Conclusions: While most biomarkers were correlated better with hepatic fibrosis in HV than in PV, individually and in predictive logit-models, they were inadequate to determine the degree of advanced fibrosis., (Copyright © 2012 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To address a growing concern about drug-induced liver injury (DILI), a nationwide study was performed to investigate the significance of DILI in Korea., Methods: From May 2005 to May 2007, cases of DILI (alanine transferase > 3 × upper normal limit or total bilirubin > 2 × upper normal limit) from 17 referral university hospitals were prospectively enrolled. Adjudication by the seven review boards was considered for the confirmation of causality and the Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) scale was used., Results: A total of 371 cases were diagnosed with DILI. The extrapolated incidence of hospitalization at university hospital in Korea was 12/100,000 persons/year. The causes included "herbal medications" (102, 27.5%), "prescription or non-prescription medications" (101, 27.3%), "health foods or dietary supplements" (51, 13.7%), "medicinal herbs or plants" (35, 9.4%), "folk remedies" (32, 8.6%), "combined" (30, 8.2%), "herbal preparations" (12, 3.2%), and others (8, 2.2%). Nine cases were linked to acetaminophen. The frequencies of hepatocellular, mixed, and cholestatic types were 76.3, 14.8, and 8.9%, respectively. A total of 234 cases met the criteria for Hy's law. Five patients died or underwent transplantation. Twenty-five cases (21 herbs and 4 medications) did not meet the time-to-onset criteria of the RUCAM., Conclusions: DILI appears to be a highly relevant health problem in Korea. "Herbal medications" are the principal cause of DILI. A more objective and reproducible causality assessment tool is strongly desired as the RUCAM scale frequently undercounts the cases caused by herbs owing to a lack of previous information and incompatible time criteria.

Between March and July 1997, a devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), serotype O, occurred in pigs in Taiwan. A total of 6,147 pig farms with more than 4 million pigs were infected, and 37.7 per cent of the pigs in Taiwan either died (0.18 million pigs) or were killed (3.85 million pigs). The epidemic reached its peak during the fifth week after it was first recognised. During the eighth and ninth weeks, a two-dose blanket vaccination programme was instituted which led to a large reduction in new outbreaks. Except for two cities, the whole of Taiwan was declared an FMD-infected zone. During the four months in which new farm outbreaks occurred, 21.7 per cent of the pigs on infected farms showed clinical signs, and there was an overall mortality of 3.95 per cent. During the early stages of the epidemic, the incubation period was as short as 24 hours and the case fatality rates for suckling piglets reached 100 per cent. The financial cost of the epidemic was estimated at US$ 378.6 million, including indemnities, vaccines, carcase disposal plus environmental protection, miscellaneous expenses, and loss of market value. Owing to the ban on exports of pork to Japan, it is estimated that the total economic cost to Taiwan's pig industry will be about US$ 1.6 billion.

Serum levels of sIL-2R can be used to monitor in vivo immune activation and its elevation have been shown to be correlated with T cell mediated immune disease such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, lymphoma and systemic sclerosis. Vitiligo is the disease of depigmentation caused by destruction of melanocytes, and there have been extensive studies on the immune pathogenesis. If the pathogenesis of vitiligo is correlated with the activation of T lymphocytes, the change of IL-2R will be detected compared with that of normal control. Therefore we sought the change in sIL-2R to determine whether T lymphocytes from patients with vitiligo show abnormal biological behavior. The quantitation of sIL-2R was done by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from the sera of 79 vitiligo patients and 40 normal controls. The results were summarized as following. The sIL-2R level in vitiligo patients (671.91 +/- 368.59 U/ml) was significantly increased compared with that of controls (370.8 +/- 71.8 U/ml; P < 0.005). According to clinical types, sIL-2R level in focal type of vitiligo patients was significantly higher than those in other types (segmental or generalized; P < 0.05). The sIL-2R level in patients less than 1 year duration was significantly higher than in patients more than 1 year duration (P < 0.05). The sIL-2R levels were not significantly different between active and inactive group. There was no significant differences among sIL-2R levels according to sex or age of onset. Our study showed that sIL-2R level was higher in vitiligo patients compared with that of normal controls, so the activation of T lymphocytes would be an important component in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. The higher sIL-2R levels in recent onset group would suggest that sIL-2R level might be an acute immunologic marker in vitiligo patients.

Antigen binding activities of 25 kinds of filter papers, including nitrocellulose (NC), nylon or polyvinylidine difluoride (PVDF), in the binding of 5 viruses, 3 bacteria, 2 mycoplasmas and 1 chicken serum protein antigens in dot immunoassay were compared. Immobilon affinity membrane type D (IAM-D) was found best in binding viral antigens, followed by Ultrabind SV-450 (SV-450). SV-450 was found best in binding bacterial antigen, followed by Ultrabind US-450 (US-450), IAM-D and NC 0.45 micron. IAM-D was the best in binding mycoplasma antigen, followed by Ultrabind HP, US-450, NC 0.2 micron. Overall, IAM-D had the best capability in the binding of the antigens.

Twenty-one antimicrobial agents were incorporated individually into Frey's agar to evaluate their inhibitory activities against 86 isolates of avian mycoplasmas recently detected in Taiwan. Among them, 45 and 37 isolates were found positive with Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae fluorescent antibody conjugate, respectively. Twenty-one other isolates were unable to be identified by the above 2 conjugates. All of the field isolates were highly sensitive (with MIC50 < 1 microgram/ml) to enrofloxacin, gentamicin, myplabin, tiamutin and tylosin. However, those field isolates were highly resistant (with MIC50 > 32 micrograms/ml) to apramycin, chlortetracycline (CTC), erythromycin (ER), flumequine (FI), nalidixic acid (NA), oxolinic acid (OA), oxytetracycline (OTC) and spiramycin (SP). The inhibitory activities of the antibiotics which possessed an MIC90 of 50 micrograms/ml or less against local isolates were, in decreasing order, enrofloxacin (< 0.004 microgram/ml), gentamicin (1.53 micrograms/ml), tiamutin (1.81 micrograms/ml), tylosin (3.2 micrograms/ml), streptomycin (SM; 12.0 micrograms/ml), colistin (13.1 micrograms/ml), chloramphenicol (14.0 micrograms/ml), spectinomycin (15.0 micrograms/ml), myplabin (16.0 micrograms/ml), spiramycin (30.0 micrograms/ml), minocycline (32.0 micrograms/ml). The MIC90 of OA, CTC, SM, FI, SP, OTC, ER or NA was greater than 50 micrograms/ml; which work poorly in the control of mycoplasmoses. Since the antibiotic control policy is quite loose in Taiwan, many antimicrobial agents are often freely used in clinics, with a resulting gradual decrease in the inhibitory activity to the avian mycoplasmas.

Toxoplasma gondii antibody titers as determined by either the indirect hemagglutination test or the methylene blue dye test were determined for a group of aborigines and for Chinese as well as for swine, cats, rats, dogs and one bovine, all resident on the island of Taiwan. None of the 194 aborigines and only 3 (1.97%) of the 152 Chinese were found to be positive. Of 433 swine tested 132 (30.5%) were positive. Thirteen (27.7%) of 47 domestic pet cats were positive while none of 11 feral cats were positive. None of the 29 rats, 3 dogs or the one bovine were positive. Possible reasons for the lack of infection in Chinese is discussed.