Browsing by Author "Lin, Pei-Sheng"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Distribution and drug susceptibilities of Candida species causing candidemia from a medical center in central Taiwan
(2013-12-01)
Chang, Te-Pin
;
Ho, Mao-Wang
;
Yang, Yun-Liang
;
Lo, Pai-Chang
;
Lin, Pei-Sheng
Invasive fungal infections have increased significantly in the past few decades because of the increase in high-risk populations. To investigate the distribution and drug susceptibilities of such infections, we analyzed all 152 Candida isolates causing candidemia from 2004 to 2006 at the China Medical University Hospital, a medical center in central Taiwan. Candida albicans was the most common species, accounting for 52.6 % of the isolates, followed by C. tropicalis (19.7 %), C. parapsilosis (14.5 %), C. glabrata (8.6 %), C. guilliermondii (3.9 %), and C. pelliculosa (0.7 %). All isolates were susceptible to amphotericin B, anidulafungin, micafungin, and voriconazole according to minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) after a 24-h incubation; 0.7 %, 6.6 %, and 7.9 % of isolates were resistant to amphotericin B, fluconazole, and voriconazole, respectively, after 48-h incubation. Both C. albicans and C. parapsilosis had high degrees of agreement for azoles between 24- and 48-h incubation periods, whereas C. glabrata (38.5-46.2 %) and C. tropicalis (56.7-63.3 %) did not. The majority of the isolates with high azole MICs displayed a trailing growth phenotype. Hence, the MICs of different drugs after 24-h incubation may be considered for prognosis of candidemia.
Functional Correlates of Resting-State Connectivity in the Default Mode Network of Heroin Users on Methadone Treatment and Medication-Free Therapeutic Community Program
(2019-06-06)
Kuo, Li-Wei
;
Lin, Pei-Sheng
;
Lin, Shih-Yen
;
Liu, Ming-Fang
;
Jan, Hengtai
The treatment of heroin addiction is a complex process involving changes in addictive behavior and brain functioning. The goal of this study was to explore the brain default mode network (DMN) functional connectivity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and decision-making performance based on the Cambridge gambling task in heroin-dependent individuals undergoing methadone treatment (MT, n = 11) and medication-free faith-based therapeutic community program (TC, n = 11). The DMN involved the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), left inferior parietal lobe (IPLL), right inferior parietal lobe (IPLR), and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) subregions for all participants in both the MT and TC groups. Compared with MT, TC had an increased functional connectivity in IPLL-IPLR and IPLR-PCC and decreased functional connectivity in mPFC-IPLL and IPLL-PCC. Both groups exhibited no significant difference in the regional rs-fMRI metric [i.e., amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF)]. In the analysis of the neural correlates for decision-making performance, risk adjustment was positively associated with ALFF in IPLL for all participants considering the group effects. The involvement of IPL in decision-making performance and treatment response among heroin-dependent patients warrants further investigation.