A nation-wide population-based study of inguinal hernia repair incidence and age-stratified recurrence in an Asian population.

PURPOSE: It has been estimated in the UK that 27 % of men and 3 % of women will undergo an inguinal hernia repair (IHR) during their lifetimes. However, no epidemiologic study investigating IHR has been performed to date in an Asian population. The present study explored the incidence and recurrence of IHR in an Asian population using a nation-wide population-based dataset in Taiwan. METHODS: Based on the National Health Insurance Database, we identified 5806 patients who underwent an IHR between 2000 and 2010 and followed them until they had a recurrence, died during hospitalization, left the program, or the study ended. We calculated the age-stratified recurrence rates and used Cox proportional hazards to explore the influence of demographic and clinical factors on recurrence. We also plotted IHR occurrence over the study period. RESULTS: Among the 5806 sampled subjects who had an IHR, 565 (9.73 %) had an IHR recurrence yielding an overall incidence of 18.23 per 1000 person-years. The hazard ratios for recurrence increased with age, and were greater among men and blue collar workers. The incidence of IHR decreased from 168.21 to 92.10 per 100,000 person-years over the study period. Surgical complication rates ranged between 0.16 and 2.57 %. CONCLUSIONS: On account of the increased risk of recurrence with age, young hernia patients may not want to delay surgery. This study detected a decreasing trend in initial IHR rates, confirming similar trends reported in Western countries. However, the incidence of initial IHR is lower in Taiwan than it is in the West.

Genetic polymorphisms of the DNA repair gene MPG may be associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease and can lead to deformities and severe disabilities, due to irreversible damage of tendons, joints, and bones. A previous study indicated that a DNA repair system was involved in the development of RA. In this study, we investigated the association of four N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG) gene polymorphisms (rs3176364, rs710079, rs2858056, and rs2541632) with susceptibility to RA in 384 Taiwanese individuals (192 RA patients and 192 control subjects). Our data show a statistically significant difference in genotype frequency distributions at rs710079 and rs2858056 SNPs between RA patients and control groups (P = 0.040 and 0.029, respectively). Our data also indicated that individuals with the GG genotype at rs2858056 SNP may have a higher risk of developing RA. In addition, compared with the haplotype frequencies between case and control groups, individuals with the GCGC haplotype appeared to be at a greater risk of RA progression (P = 0.003, OR = 1.75; 95% CI = 1.20-1.55). Our results suggest that rs710079 and rs2858056 polymorphisms and the GCGC haplotype in the MPG gene are associated with the risk of RA progression, and thus may be used as molecular markers of RA if they are confirmed by further research.

Assembly of multi-functional nanocomponents on periodic nanotube array for biosensors.

Patterned carbon nanotubes arrays (PCNTA) with reduced density and length were developed with polystyrene sphere masked catalyst dots followed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The nanotubes were then uniformly coated with electropolymerized polypyrrole (PPy). The coating thickness was conformally adjustable. Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) together with glucose oxidase (Gox) were doped into the PPy film on the nanotubes to develop a high performance PCNTA glucose sensor. The sensitivity of the sensor was improved by the co-existence of Gox and AuNP on the carbon nanotube. Moreover, in contrast to previous reported PCNTA glucose sensors, the design herein utilized the entire surface of nanotubes as active sensing areas in order to maximize the Faradic currents. This research outlines a practical avenue to fabricate high performance PCNTA sensor chips with multiple molecules and functional nano-architectures.

Association of TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus in Taiwanese patients.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), an important proinflammatory cytokine, exerts a variety of physiological and pathogenic effects that lead to tissue destruction. Studies on the association of TNF-alpha genetic polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have yielded inconclusive results. We investigated the association of TNF-alpha genetic polymorphisms (-1031T/C, -863C/A, -857T/C, -308A/G and +489A/G) with SLE in Taiwanese patients and controls. Our results indicate that 1) the frequency of the A-allele at -863 position was significantly higher in SLE patients (odds ratio = 1.46; 95% CI = 1.02-2.08); 2) the frequency of the A-allele at +489 position was significantly higher in SLE patients (odds ratio = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.21-2.65); 3) the AA or GA genotype frequencies at +489 position were significantly increased in SLE patients (AA genotype: odds ratio = 11.20; 95% CI = 1.36-92.55; GA genotype: odds ratio = 1.63; 95% CI = 1.03-2.58); 4) no significant association of TNF-alpha haplotypic distributions was observed, except for the haplotypes TCCGA, CACGA and CCCGG; and 5) the genotype frequency of the polymorphisms at -1031 was significantly different in patients with antinuclear antibodies (P = 0.022). The allele and genotype frequencies of the polymorphisms at -863 were not significantly different. The genotype frequency of the polymorphisms at -857 was significantly different in patients with haematological disorder (P = 0.025). The frequency of A allele of the polymorphisms at -308 was significantly increased in patients with malar rash (P = 0.033), discoid rash (P = 0.023), photosensitivity (P = 0.037), oral ulcers (P = 0.002) and serositis (P = 0.029). The genotype frequency of the polymorphisms at +489 was significantly different in patients with discoid rash and photosensitivity (data not shown; discoid rash, P = 0.031; photosensitivity, P = 0.044). These results suggest that TNF-alpha genetic polymorphisms contribute to SLE susceptibility in the Taiwanese population.

Increased phonon scattering by nanograins and point defects in nanostructured silicon with a low concentration of germanium.

The mechanism for phonon scattering by nanostructures and by point defects in nanostructured silicon (Si) and the silicon germanium (Ge) alloy and their thermoelectric properties are investigated. We found that the thermal conductivity is reduced by a factor of 10 in nanostructured Si in comparison with bulk crystalline Si. However, nanosize interfaces are not as effective as point defects in scattering phonons with wavelengths shorter than 1 nm. We further found that a 5 at. % Ge replacing Si is very efficient in scattering phonons shorter than 1 nm, resulting in a further thermal conductivity reduction by a factor of 2, thereby leading to a thermoelectric figure of merit 0.95 for Si95Ge5, similar to that of large grained Si80Ge20 alloys.

HLA-E gene polymorphism associated with susceptibility to Kawasaki disease and formation of coronary artery aneurysms.

OBJECTIVE: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a pediatric systemic vasculitis of unknown cause for which a genetic influence is supposed. The purpose of this study was to identify possible genetic variants in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region that are associated with KD and the development of coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) in a Taiwanese population. METHODS: The 168 genetic variants covering the MHC locus were analyzed in an association study of a Taiwanese cohort of 93 KD patients and 680 unrelated healthy children matched for sex and age with the study patients. RESULTS: Eleven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were associated with the occurrence of KD. The SNP located at the 3'-untranslated region of HLA-E (rs2844724) was highly associated (P < 1 x 10(-7)). In addition, the frequency of the C allele was higher in KD patients without CAAs than in controls (P < 0.001) due to a significantly increased frequency of the CC and CT genotypes. Plasma levels of soluble HLA-E were significantly higher in KD patients than in controls regardless of the presence of CAAs. Furthermore, there was a trend toward higher plasma levels of soluble HLA-E in KD patients with the CT and TT genotypes of the HLA-E gene polymorphism. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the HLA-E gene polymorphism may play a role in the pathogenesis of KD.

A/C polymorphism in the interleukin-18 coding region among Taiwanese systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is associated with chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases and various cancers and infectious diseases. An IL-18 genetic A/C polymorphism at coding position 105 (rs549908) has been linked with asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. We tested a hypothesis that the IL-18 genetic polymorphism confers systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility. Study participants were Taiwanese SLE patients and a healthy control group. Our results indicate (1) a significantly higher A allele frequency in SLE patients (P = 0.003; OR = 1.97; 95% CI = 1.26-3.08) and (2) a significantly higher A allele frequency in SLE patients with a central nervous system disorder (P = 0.027; OR = 7.18; 95% CI = 0.95-54.28). Our results suggest that the A/C polymorphism contributes to SLE pathogenesis.

Interactions between a rotating polarized sphere and a stationary one in an electric field.

Precise measurement of the attracting force between two polarized spheres inside an electric field indicates that the rotation of one sphere along the axis perpendicular to the electric field reduces the attracting force between them. The important difference between the experimental results and the existing theory indicated that this reduction is due to several factors. In addition to the reduction of polarization due to the free surface charges, the rotation may also weaken the local field near the rotating sphere, making the main contribution to the reduction of the attracting force. Moreover, the experiment also suggests that the polarization due to the molecular polarizability cannot be ignored.

Pathogenicity and drug susceptibility of the Pasteurella anatis isolated in chickens in Taiwan.

A strain of Pasteurella anatis (PA) was isolated from the sinus of an adult leghorn laying chicken with sinusitis, nasal discharge, drop in egg production, and low mortality, symptoms initially thought to indicate infectious coryza. The tiny, smooth, whitish colonies were identified as PA. To compare its pathogenicity with that of commercial broilers, nine groups, 10 birds per group, of 10-day-old broilers were individually inoculated with the strain of PA, Pasteurella multocida (PM), or Escherichia coli (EC) by intravenous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, or subcutaneous inoculation. The PA was determined to cause the signs, lesions, and septicemic death, which are similar to the symptoms of PM or EC infection. At 1 wk postinfection (PI), the mortality rate was between that of PM and EC infection at 1 wk PI. Twenty antimicrobial-containing discs were evaluated, and the isolate was highly sensitive to cetiofer, amoxicillin, lincopectin, and furazolidone. Furthermore, it was moderately sensitive to tetracycline and enrofloxacin and only slightly sensitive to cephalothin, chloramphenicol, flumequine, nalidixic acid, neomycin, oxolinic acid, streptomycin, and trimethoprim. The PA infection was treated successfully with amoxicillin.

Temporal trends and molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 infection in Taiwan from 1988 to 1998.

Eight hundred and seventy-nine HIV-1-infected patients (comprising 46% of reported HIV-1/AIDS cases in Taiwan) were recruited for this study of the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Taiwan from 1988 to 1998. HIV-1 subtypes were determined using a modified peptide-enzyme immunoassay complemented with DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Of the 807 HIV-1 infected men, 68.2% were infected with HIV-1B, 29.5% with HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF)01_AE and 2.3% with other subtypes. Of the 72 HIV-1-infected women, 72.2% were infected with HIV-1 CRF01_AE, 13.9% with HIV-1B, and 13.9% with other subtypes. All of 8 foreign-born, Southeast Asian women and 6 of 7 (85.7%) Taiwan-native female commercial sex workers were infected with HIV-1 CRF01_AE. Fourteen of the 33 (42.4%) heterosexual married men with CRF01_AE had transmitted HIV-1 to their wives, whereas only 1 of 17 (5.9%) men with HIV-1 B had transmitted HIV-1 to their spouses (p < .01). Of 18 heterosexual male injecting drug users, 1 of 12 (8.5%) with HIV-1B and 5 of 6 (83.3%) with HIV-1 CRF01_AE had had sexual contact with female commercial sex workers (p < .01). Therefore, in this population, CRF01_AE was preferentially associated with heterosexual risk groups, a finding compatible with differences in transmission capability between B and non-B subtypes.