Phylogeographic Analysis of Mycobacterium kansasii Isolates from Patients with M. kansasii Lung Disease in Industrialized City, Taiwan.

Little is known about environmental transmission of Mycobacterium kansasii. We retrospectively investigated potential environmental acquisition, primarily water sources, of M. kansasii among 216 patients with pulmonary disease from an industrial city in Taiwan during 2015-2017. We analyzed sputum mycobacterial cultures using whole-genome sequencing and used hierarchical Bayesian spatial network methods to evaluate risk factors for genetic relatedness of M. kansasii strains. The mean age of participants was 67 years; 24.1% had previously had tuberculosis. We found that persons from districts served by 2 water purification plants were at higher risk of being infected with genetically related M. kansasii isolates. The adjusted odds ratios were 1.81 (1.25-2.60) for the Weng Park plant and 1.39 (1.12-1.71) for the Fongshan plant. Those findings unveiled the association between water purification plants and M. kansasii pulmonary disease, highlighting the need for further environmental investigations to evaluate the risk for M. kansasii transmission.

Molecular detection of emerging porcine circovirus in Taiwan.

Porcine Circovirus type (PCV) 2 is an important pathogen that has been circulating worldwide and has cuased serious economic loss in pig industry. However, both PCV3 and PCV4 are newly emerging viruses. In Taiwan, PCV2 has been one of the critical pathogens in pig frams and PCV3 has been detected since 2016; however, the epidemiolog of PCV3 in Taiwan remains unclear and PCV4 has yet to be identified. Therefore, in order to detect the positive rate of PCV2, to investigate the epidemiolog of PCV3 in the pig farms, and to examine whether pigs were infected with PCV4 in Taiwan, a total of 128 samples from 46 clinical cases of pigs were collected from September 2020 to December 2021. The case detection rates were 54.3 % for PCV2, 43.5 % for PCV3, and 2.2 % for PCV4. The results suggested that the positivity rates for both PCV2 and PCV3 were still high in Taiwan. In addition, PCV3 was detected among cases from all 7 sampled counties and in 11 of the 16 sampling months, suggesting that PCV3 may lead to endemic pig disease in Taiwan. Surprisingly, the PCV4 was also detected, suggesting the first PCV4 case in Taiwan. The complete genomes derived from the identified PCV3 and PCV4 strains were subsequently sequenced followed by phylogenetic analysis. The results suggested that the 17 identified PCV3 strains could be divided into Taiwanese-like and Japanese-like strains. In addition, the amino acid residues at positions 27, 80, and 212 in the identified PCV4 cap protein were asparagine, isoleucine, and methionine, respectively, and thus the identified PCV4 was catalorized into clade PCV4b. Consequently, it is concluded that (i) the prevalence of PCV2 and PCV3 is still high in Taiwanese pigs, (ii) PCV3 has may be an endemic infection in Taiwan and can be classified into Japanese-like and Taiwanese-like strains, (iii) PCV4 was detected for the first time in Taiwanese pigs and can be classified into PCV4b. It remains unclear how PCV2, PCV3, and PCV4 were introduced to Taiwan, and thus continuous investigation of emerging pathogens in pigs is needed.

Comparison of Sub-Scalp EEG and Endovascular Stent-Electrode Array for Visual Evoked Potential Brain-Computer Interface.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) have the potential to improve the quality of life for persons with paralysis. Sub-scalp EEG provides an alternative BCI signal acquisition method that compromises between the limitations of traditional EEG systems and the risks associated with intracranial electrodes, and has shown promise in long-term seizure monitoring. However, sub-scalp EEG has not yet been assessed for suitability in BCI applications. This study presents a preliminary comparison of visual evoked potentials (VEPs) recorded using sub-scalp and endovascular stent electrodes in a sheep. Sub-scalp electrodes recorded comparable VEP amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth to the stent electrodes.Clinical relevance-This is the first study to report a comparision between sub-scalp and stent electrode array signals. The use of sub-scalp EEG electrodes may aid in the long-term use of brain-computer interfaces.

Does Real-Time Feedback Improve User Performance in SSVEP-based Brain-Computer Interfaces?

Offline and online experiments are both widely used in SSVEP-based BCI research and development for different purposes. One of the major differences between offline and online experiments is the existence of real-time feedback to the user while they are using the interface. However, the role of feedback in SSVEP-based BCIs has not yet been well studied. This work focuses on understanding the effect of feedback in SSVEP-based BCIs and if there exists any relationship between offline and online BCI performance. An experiment was designed to compare directly the accuracies of the BCI with and without feedback for participants. Results showed that feedback can improve performance in a complex task, but no clear improvement was observed in a simple task.

Development of an Elastic Piezoelectric Yarn for the Application of a Muscle Patch Sensor.

In this paper, an elastic poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) piezoelectric yarn for the application of a muscle patch sensor is presented. The electrospinning method is used to fabricate the piezoelectric yarn, and different parameters were used to control the orientation and structure of piezoelectric fibers. We further develop a post-alignment process to reorganize the orientation of fibers and to reshape fiber microstructures. Two unique microstructures of piezoelectric fibers that have an excellent elastic performance were identified. This piezoelectric yarn is composed of skewed and crimped fibers that align along the elongation direction, and it can be cyclically stretched up to 65% strain with good linearity, durability, and repeatability. Its mechanical behavior is superior to randomly distributed and fully straightened piezoelectric fibers, and it is suitable for long-term use of larger strain sensing. Our study demonstrated that this piezoelectric yarn can be stretched for more than 12 h under a repeated 1 Hz cyclic deformation. Using this elastic piezoelectric yarn, a muscle patch sensor that can be attached to the skin over human muscles for real-time monitoring is developed. The concentric, eccentric, and isometric contractions of biceps and triceps can be measured simultaneously to study their contraction behaviors. To further verify whether this patch sensor can be used under intense exercise conditions, the contraction behavior of a soleus muscle during stationary jumping and running is monitored to demonstrate sensor performance. Finally, this patch sensor is sewed onto a chest band, and it is verified that both breathing movement and heartbeat can be monitored.

Sweet Olive Extract Attenuates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Colitis in Mice.

Sweet olive (Osmanthus fragrans flowers) is used to treat dysentery and reduce phlegm and stasis in traditional Chinese medicine. Recently, we found that verbascoside, the major component in the sweet olive ethanolic extract (OFE), inhibited IL-8 secretion in human colorectal adenocarcinoma WiDr cells. However, evidence-based treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with the extract is yet to be performed. To evaluate the therapeutic effect of OFE, we measured IL-8 suppression by OFE and verbascoside in a WiDr cell culture assay. In the IL-8 secretion assay, both OFE (100 µg/mL) and verbascoside (10 µM) significantly inhibited IL-8 production in WiDr cells. Furthermore, we designed cotreated (dextran sulfate sodium [DSS]+OFE-treated) and post-treated (DSS-OFE-treated) protocols to access the therapeutic effects of OFE in vivo. Mice treated with 500 mg/kg per day OFE exhibited significant improvement in IBD symptoms, including disease activity index score, body weight, and colon length maintenance. The suppressive effects on myeloperoxidase expression and lower histopathology scores (including neutrophil infiltration) for the colon were also found. These findings suggest that OFE exerts anti-inflammatory effect on DSS-induced colitis.