Browsing by Author "Liu, Wei-Lun"

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A Tiling-Scheme Viterbi Decoder in Software Defined Radio for GPUs
(2011)
Lin, Chih-Sheng
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Liu, Wei-Lun
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Yeh, Wei-Ting
;
Chang, Li-Wen
;
Hwu, Wen-Mei W.
In this paper, we propose a parallel design of Viterbi decoder for Software-Defined Radio (SDR). Our method implements a divide-and-conquer approach by tiling decoding sequences, performing independent speculated Viterbi decoding, and merging partial candidate paths into the final path. For each independent Viterbi decoding, the best path is selected by calculating Hamming distances trellis-by-trellis in parallel. Our method shows up to 14.6x speedup on an NVIDIA 8800 GTX over a sequential C implementation on a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 CPU. Also, compared with existing GPU-based implementation in [3], our method outperforms up to 2.5x.
Are we ready for the global emergence of multidrug-resistant Candida auris in Taiwan?
(2018-06-01)
Lu, Po-Liang
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Liu, Wei-Lun
;
Lo, Hsiu-Jung
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Wang, Fu-Der
;
Ko, Wen-Chien
Candida auris is a recently identified multi-resistant Candida species, first reported in Japan in 2009, and poses a serious global health threat. Lack of awareness of this new Candida species and difficulties with laboratory identification have impacted significantly on outbreak detection and management, and compromised patient outcome. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of healthcare personnel to this emerging pathogen and determine its prevalence, impact, and challenges to the Taiwan healthcare system. Enhanced laboratory testing strategies are needed to differentiate C. auris from other Candida species to provide accurate diagnosis and implement control measures early enough to prevent hospital outbreaks. In this report, we review the key epidemiological, microbiological and clinical characteristics of C. auris and provide the results of a multicenter surveillance study of C. auris in Taiwan. We also conducted a web-based survey to determine awareness of the medical community to C. auris and the capability of Taiwanese hospital laboratories to identify this microorganism. C. auris has not yet been isolated from humans in Taiwan, but the unique features of this microorganism and its ability to reach across international boundaries justify the importance of these initiatives in Taiwan.(C) 2017, Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
Epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility of candidemia isolates of non-albicans Candida species from cancer patients
(2017-10-11)
Wu, Ping-Feng
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Liu, Wei-Lun
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Hsieh, Min-Han
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Hii, Ing-Moi
;
Lee, Yu-Lin
Candidemia is a growing concern worldwide, and its species distribution has shifted toward non-albicans Candida in recent decades, especially in patients with malignancy. This study aimed to update the epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility of non-albicans candidemia isolates from the cancer patients. Adult cancer patients with non-albicans candidemia were recruited, and clinical data were retrospectively collected from five medical centers in Taiwan from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2014. In vitro susceptibility was determined by the broth dilution method using a Sensititre YeastOne system and interpreted according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. A total of 346 episodes of non-albicans candidemia were identified in cancer patients. Candida tropicalis was the most common species (n=145, 41.9%) and had the highest resistance rate to fluconazole (n=17, 13.9%) among all the preserved isolates, including C. tropicalis, Candida glabrata and Candida parapsilosis. A higher Charlson comorbidity index, non-albicans candidemia due to C. tropicalis, neutropenia and septic shock were independent predictors of 28-day mortality. In conclusion, the species distribution and antifungal susceptibility of non-albicans candidemia isolates in our study differed from those in Western countries, providing useful information about local epidemiology for the selection of empirical antifungal agents for cancer patients.
Measurement and prediction of the NEXAFS spectra of pyrimidine and purine and the dissociation following the core excitation
(2015-09-01)
Lin, Yi-Shiue
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Lin, Huei-Ru
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Liu, Wei-Lun
;
Lee, Yuan T.
;
Tseng, Chien-Ming
Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra of pyrimidine and purine at the carbon and nitrogen K-edges were measured using synchrotron radiation and a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Spectrum assignments based on the time-dependent density functional theory calculation were presented. From the comparison of the experimental and theoretical results, the nature of various core-excitation transitions and the chemical shifts in the absorption energies were elucidated. The dissociation fragments following the core excitation were analyzed, and the enhancements on the fragment branching ratios were observed. The possible identities and dissociation mechanisms of the major fragments were discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier By. All rights reserved .
Resistance rates of non-albicans Candida infections in Taiwan after the revision of 2012 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute breakpoints
(2019-01-01)
Hii, Ing-Moi
;
Liu, Chun-Eng
;
Lee, Yu-Lin
;
Liu, Wei-Lun
;
Wu, Ping-Feng
Purpose: In 2012, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) revised its breakpoints for drugs and species because of the increase in non-albicans Candida infections and their drug resistance. Following global trends, the non-albicans candidemia resistance rate has increased in Taiwan as well. To update the antifungal susceptibility of non-albicans candidemia isolates, we conducted a multicenter study using the revised break points. Patients and methods: Patients with non-albicans candidemia infections were identified at five tertiary hospitals in Taiwan from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2014. The broth microdilution method using a Sensititre YeastOne system was performed for the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The susceptibility was interpreted based on the guidelines of the CLSI (CLSI M27-S4 and M27-S3). Results: Candida tropicalis was the predominant non-albicans candidemia pathogen (42.4%), and it showed increased fluconazole non-susceptibility (36.3%) when compared to the results from previous studies. In particular, C. tropicalis showed high cross-resistance to azole agents. C. tropicalis isolates that were found to be resistant to fluconazole also showed increased resistance to voriconazole (82.2%) and posaconazole (100%). The increased non-susceptibility of Candida glabrata to multiple antifungal agents, based on the revised break points, resulted from an increase in dose-dependent susceptibility (94.4%) rather than from an increase in resistance (5.6%). Conclusion: The resistance rate of non-albicans candidemia isolates is increasing, particularly for C. tropicalis and C. glabrata.