Browsing by Author "Chang, Chia-Ying"

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An At-Risk Population Screening Program for Mucopolysaccharidoses by Measuring Urinary Glycosaminoglycans in Taiwan
(2019-12-01)
Lin, Hsiang-Yu
;
Lee, Chung-Lin
;
Lo, Yun-Ting
;
Tu, Ru-Yi
;
Chang, Ya-Hui
Background: The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are a group of rare lysosomal storage disorders characterized by the accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and which eventually cause progressive damage to various tissues and organs. We developed a feasible MPS screening algorithm and established a cross-specialty collaboration platform between medical geneticists and other medical specialists based on at-risk criteria to allow for an earlier confirmative diagnosis of MPS. Methods: Children (<19 years of age) with clinical signs and symptoms compatible with MPS were prospectively enrolled from pediatric clinics between July 2013 and June 2018. Urine samples were collected for a non-specific total GAG analysis using the dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) spectrophotometric method, and the quantitation of three urinary GAGs (dermatan sulfate (DS), heparan sulfate (HS), and keratan sulfate (KS)) was performed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The subjects with elevated urinary GAG levels were recalled for leukocyte enzyme activity assay and genetic testing for confirmation. Results: Among 153 subjects enrolled in this study, 13 had a confirmative diagnosis of MPS (age range, 0.6 to 10.9 years-three with MPS I, four with MPS II, five with MPS IIIB, and one with MPS IVA). The major signs and symptoms with regards to different systems recorded by pediatricians at the time of the decision to test for MPS were the musculoskeletal system (55%), followed by the neurological system (45%) and coarse facial features (39%). For these 13 patients, the median age at the diagnosis of MPS was 2.9 years. The false negative rate of urinary DMB ratio using the dye-based method for these 13 patients was 31%, including one MPS I, two MPS IIIB, and one MPS IVA. However, there were no false negative results with urinary DS, HS and KS using the MS/MS-based method. Conclusions: We established an at-risk population screening program for MPS by measuring urinary GAG fractionation biomarkers using the LC-MS/MS method. The program included medical geneticists and other medical specialists to increase awareness and enable an early diagnosis by detecting MPS at the initial onset of clinical symptoms.
Controllable Surface Plasmon Rasonance in Gold Nanocomposites for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
(2011)
Chang, Chia-Ying
;
Lin, Yung-Lun
;
Cheng, Pi-Ju
;
Cheng, Jung-An
;
Chang, Shu-Mei
The water dispersible gold nanoparticles coordinated with various surfactants for surface plasmon enhancement were synthesized. Via modulating the refractive indexes of surfactants, the surface plasmon resonance wavelength can be varied between 520 and 570 nm. As a result, Au nanoparticles-incorporated PEDOT:PSS matrix layer revealed a 2.7x increase in fluorescence quantum yields from fluorescent dye, P2-A.
Functional independence of Taiwanese patients with mucopolysaccharidoses
(2019-08-01)
Lee, Chung-Lin
;
Lin, Hsiang-Yu
;
Chuang, Chih-Kuang
;
Chiu, Huei-Ching
;
Tu, Ru-Yi
Background Information on functional strengths and weaknesses of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) patients is important for early intervention programs and enzyme replacement therapy (ERT). Methods We used the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) questionnaire to assess the functional skills of 63 Taiwanese MPS patients (median age, 13 years 3 months; range, 3-20 years) from January 2012 to December 2018. Results Mean total WeeFIM score was 75.4 of a potential score of 126. Mean total WeeFIM scores of each type (MPS I, MPS II, MPS IIIB, MPS IVA, and MPS VI) were 103.8, 76.2, 41.6, 92.2, and 113.6, respectively. Mean scores for self-care, mobility, and cognition domains were 30 (maximum 56), 23 (maximum 35), and 22 (maximum 35), respectively. MPS type IIIB patients had the lowest scores in self-care, mobility, cognition, and total domains compared to other types of MPS. All patients with ERT in MPS I, II, and IVA had higher scores in self-care and mobility domains than patients without ERT. Most patients required assistance for self-care skills, especially in grooming and bathing. Conclusion MPS patients require support and supervision in self-care tasks. For cognition tasks, MPS IIIB patients also require help. This questionnaire is useful to identify the strengths and limitations of MPS patients.
Smart Laser Weeding System
(2019-01-01)
Chang, Chia-Yuan
;
Chang, Chia-Ying
;
Huang, Xin-Ni
;
Huang, Tzu-Cheng
;
Wu, Chi-Yuan
Mechanical weeding is a necessary means to produce organic soybean in vast area and is the most effective for seedling of weed. However, the growth of weed is inconsistent; we must rely on the quantity of closely weeding to achieve the expected results. Organic cultivation adopts strip planting to reduce the cost of weeding, and uses the cultivator to remove weeds. This operation is slow and with high cost, and the artificial weeding is necessary in the later stage. In contrast, the field weeding robot can provide mechanical or physical prevention of weeds via monitor and image analysis. Therefore, this study aims to effectively increase production and solve the problems of labor shortage and high cost on labors by combining an unmanned ground vehicle with a developing smart laser weeding system for autonomous precise weeding. An intelligent image recognition is adopted to identify the position of the weed, and then through the laser tissue fibrosis to achieve the goal of precise weeding.