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BACKGROUND: The ongoing climate change will elevate the incidence of diarrheal in 2030-2050 in Asia, including Taiwan. This study investigated associations between meteorological factors (temperature, precipitation) and burden of age-cause-specific diarrheal diseases in six regions of Taiwan using 13 years of (2004-2016) population-based data.METHODS: Weekly cause-specific diarrheal and meteorolog

For more than a century, the origin and evolution of the arthropod head and brain have eluded a unifying rationale reconciling divergent morphologies and phylogenetic relationships. Here, clarification is provided by the fossilized nervous system of the lower Cambrian lobopodian Cardiodictyon catenulum, which reveals an unsegmented head and brain comprising three cephalic domains, distinct from th

Two-dimensional (2D) cell culturing implies the cultivation of cells, isolated from an organism, to permit growth in 2D. Two-dimensional tissue culture surfaces are made of different kinds of glass and plastics with various degrees of hydrophilicity. The hydrophilicity is determined by the surface chemistry, which determines the adsorption of proteins required for cell attachment. Cellular physiol

A microenvironment is an area with a specific composition of mainly extracellular matrix (ECM) components surrounding the cells. The tight interactions between matrix molecules and cells are very important, and it is now well known that the ECM components direct cell activity and function and regulate remodeling processes during both homeostasis and pathological conditions. The lung is a very comp

In this chapter we introduce biomaterials science to a nonexpert reader in order to provide new perspectives for the development of in vitro three-dimensional models that are relevant in lung research. Specifically, we provide a comprehensive description of key concepts in the fields of biomaterials science and lung research to explain how merging them can give rise to new models of lung biology a

During inflammation, cellular glucose uptake and glycolysis are upregulated to meet an increased energy demand. For example, keratinocyte glycolysis is essential for progression of psoriasis. Therefore, understanding the regulation of glucose metabolism in keratinocytes is of importance. Here, we show that the pro-inflammatory cytokines IFNγ and TNF together rapidly induce glucose uptake, glycolys

Terbium induced nanostructures on Si(110) and their growth are thoroughly characterized by low energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, core-level and valence band photoelectron spectroscopy, and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. For low Tb coverage, a wetting layer forms with its surface fraction continuously decreasing with increasing Tb coverage in f

Importance: The behavioral variant of Alzheimer disease (bvAD) is characterized by early and predominant behavioral deficits caused by AD pathology. This AD phenotype is insufficiently understood and lacks standardized clinical criteria, limiting reliability and reproducibility of diagnosis and scientific reporting. Objective: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the bvAD literature

The breakup of the L-chondrite parent body (LCPB) in the asteroid belt at 466 Ma ago is the largest asteroid breakup documented in Earth's geological record for the past ca. three billion years. Recovery of abundant macroscopic fossil L chondrites in mid-Ordovician marine sediments as well as reconstructions of the flux of micrometeoritic chrome spinel through the ages have given much new informat

The hazards posed by a wildfire increase significantly when it approaches the wildland–urban interface. Evacuation of rural communities is frequently considered by local authorities and residents. In this context, evacuation triggers are locations that when reached by the wildfire indicate it is time to evacuate. Triggers are often arbitrarily defined via identifiable landmarks, do not include a s

Objectives We investigated gender differences in the association between mortality and general psychological distress (measured by 12-item General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-12), as an increased mortality risk has been shown in community studies, but gender differences are largely unknown. Setting We used data from a cross-sectional population-based public health survey conducted in 2008 in the Swe

The response of soft colloids to crowding depends sensitively on the particles' compressibility. Nanogel suspensions provide model systems that are often studied to better understand the properties of soft materials and complex fluids from the formation of colloidal crystals to the flow of viruses, blood, or platelet cells in the body. Large spherical nanogels, when embedded in a matrix of smaller

Background: Proton beam therapy penetrates tumor tissues with a highly concentrated dose. It is useful when normal structures are too proximate to the treatment target and, thus, may be damaged by surgery or conventional photon beam therapy. However, proton beam therapy has only been used to treat recurrent endometrial cancer in a few cases; therefore, its effectiveness remains unclear. Case prese

Background: Although many people infected with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) experience no or mild symptoms, some individuals can develop severe illness and may die, particularly older people and those with underlying medical problems. Providing evidence-based interventions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection has become more urgent with the spread of more infectious SARS

Objective: To estimate risks for all-cause mortality and for severe COVID-19 in multiple sclerosis patients and across relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients exposed to disease-modifying therapies. Methods: We conducted a Swedish nationwide population-based multi-register linkage cohort study and followed all multiple sclerosis patients (n = 17,692 in March 2020), individually age-, sex-,

Objective: The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) frailty index (FI) predicts mortality and damage accrual in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but its association with hospitalizations has not been described. Our objective was to estimate the association of baseline SLICC-FI values with future hospitalizations in the SLICC inception cohort. Methods: Baseline SLICC-FI sco

Objective: To describe baseline characteristics and to compare treatment effectiveness of secukinumab versus tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) using adalimumab as the main comparator. Methods: This was an observational, prospective cohort study. Patients with SpA (clinical ankylosing spondylitis, nonradiographic axial SpA, or undifferentiated SpA) sta

The possibility of providing investigative leads when conventional DNA identification methods fail to solve a case can be of extreme relevance to law enforcement. Therefore, the forensic genetics community has focused research towards the broadened use of DNA, particularly for prediction of appearance traits, bio-geographical ancestry and age. The VISible Attributes through GEnomics (VISAGE) Conso

Objectives Heat-stressed Mesoamerican workers, such as sugarcane cutters, suffer from high rates of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt). We aimed to identify easily available early markers of rapid kidney function decline in a population at high risk of CKDnt. Design The accuracy of different biomarkers measured during harvest for prediction of cross-harvest kidney function de

Objective: There is a lack of real-life studies on interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibition in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). We assessed real-life 6- and 12-month effectiveness (i.e., retention, remission, low disease activity [LDA], and response rates) of the IL-17 inhibitor secukinumab in PsA patients overall and across 1) number of prior biologic/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (