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Cysteine might scavenge free radicals and is a limiting substrate for the cellular synthesis of glutathione (GSH). We investigated the association of cysteine with oxidative stress and GSH-related antioxidant capacity in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Plasma samples were drawn from 66 patients 1 day before (pre-resection) and 4 weeks after resection (post-resection). Tumor and adjacent normal tissues were collected. We measured levels of plasma and tissue cysteine, homocysteine, oxidative stress indicators (malondialdehyde, MDA; advanced oxidation protein products, AOPP), GSH, and antioxidant enzyme activities. After tumor resection, patients had significantly higher levels of plasma cysteine, homocysteine, MDA, AOPP, and GSH-related antioxidant enzyme activities when compared with pre-resection. Levels of cysteine, homocysteine, AOPP and all antioxidant capacity indicators in tumor tissue were significantly higher than those levels in the adjacent normal tissue. Plasma cysteine levels measured at pre-resection were positively associated with MDA levels in the tumor and in the adjacent normal tissues. Cysteine levels in tumor and adjacent normal tissues were significantly associated with tissue levels of homocysteine, almost as indicators of oxidative stress and antioxidant capacities. Cysteine in the circulation was likely utilized to mediate GSH-related antioxidant capacity and further cope with increased oxidative stress in tumor and adjacent normal tissues.

The extant biological reports on pangolins have mainly been established from rescued gravid individuals or a handful of observations done in captivity, thus, generating data discrepancies. The present research characterizes the Taiwanese pangolin's annual seasonal reproductive pattern by measuring immunoreactive estrogens and progestagens in 34 captive females and testosterone in 29 captive males. Our results showed that Taiwanese pangolins are seasonal breeders, with most births (10/13) witnessed during Dec-Jan as field records. Females exhibited spontaneous ovulation and post-partum ovulation. Pregnant females exhibited a higher P4 level for ~ nine months (Jan-Sept) and decreased before parturition (Oct-Dec). The circulating E2 is maintained at the baseline in pregnant females year-round. Contrastingly, in non-pregnant females, P4 is maintained at the baseline apart from slight elevation in January, and E2 demonstrates a sudden hike from November and remains elevated until February, suggesting the onset of ovulation. The serum testosterone concentration in males peaked during October, which is in sync with the female ovulation period. As a result that their major reproductive events, ovulation, mating, and parturition, all transpire from November-March. Evidence also supported that Taiwanese pangolin exhibit the signs of postimplantation (pregnancy) ranging only from 5–6 months (May-October) preceded by facultative delay implantation triggered by lactation. The provided data not only filled in the knowledge gap for this critically endangered species but also can assist in making informed decisions, which can directly affect the successful breeding of this species in captivity.

This paper presents a modified resolved acceleration control scheme based on deep regression of the convolutional neural network. The resolved acceleration control scheme can achieve precise motion control of robot manipulators by regulating the accelerations of the end-effector, and the conventional scheme needs the position and orientation of the end-effector, which are obtained through the direct kinematics of the robot manipulator. This scheme increases the computational loads and might obtain inaccurate position and orientation due to mechanical errors. To overcome the drawbacks, a camera is used to capture the images of the robot manipulator, and then a deep regression of convolutional neural network is imposed into the resolved acceleration control to obtain the position and orientation of the end-effector. The proposed approach aims to enhance the positioning accuracy, to reduce the computational loads, and to facilitate the deep regression in real-time control. In this study, the proposed approach is applied to a 3-DOF planar parallel robot manipulator, and the results are compared with those by the conventional resolved acceleration control and a visual servo-based control. The results show that those objectives are achieved. Furthermore, the robustness of the proposed approach is tested through only the partial image of the end-effector available, and the proposed approach still works functionally and effectively.

Objective:Disasters can have impact on the demand and supply of blood, with such a difficult perspective, planning of an appropriate response to counterbalance the need for blood is of paramount importance. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate how the impact of blood imbalances may be absorbed by inert recruitment of donors during 2 life-threatening earthquakes that shook Taiwan on the same date in 2016 and 2018.Method:A retrospective database search from blood bank registries was developed.Results:Despite the public efforts to restrain the flow, a 3- to 4-fold increase in volunteers responded to the earthquakes. This surge alleviated after a day and did not contribute to sub-par collections. Those who donated more than usual immediately after the event were identified as first-time, younger, and female populations. The hospitals providing inpatient care to the injured transfused a slightly decreased amount of packed red cells, whereas the use of whole blood, platelets, and plasma remained stable. The inert recruiting was effective in reducing the duration of donor overabundance.Conclusion:Compared with other examples, the inert recruiting approach was effective in reducing the duration of donor overabundance to 1 day and may be useful for disaster preparedness of transfusion supplies.

It is generally recognized that repeat apheresis increases the risk for iron deficiency, thus may impact on the blood homeostasis. With regard to donor vigilance, we clarified the mid- to long-term effects of plateletapheresis by comparing the most frequent donors with the first-time ones in hematological and biochemical tests.Levels of erythropoietin (EPO), hemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin were analyzed in double-unit (500 mL whole blood or 6 × 10Regardless of the donation experience in whole blood or plateletpheresis, iron deficiency (serum ferritin concentrations15 μg/L) was identified in all earnest cohorts. The ferritin means were significantly lower in plateletpheresis groups, with the lowest values in the enthusiastic group. EPO levels showed a significant inverse correlation with ferritin (p = 0.015, r = -0.224). Long-term earnest donors had the lowest iron stores accompanied by a later thrombocytosis and a final increase in EPO was revealed.Regular ferritin screens are crucial to ensure a high level of donor health protection.