MingDao University

About: MingDao University is a education organization based out in Bitou, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Coating. The organization has 557 authors who have published 903 publications receiving 17915 citations.

Analysis of sulfachloropyridazine and sulfapyridine by high-performance liquid chromatography with molecularly imprinted polymer as the stationary phase

Abstract: A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic method for simultaneous determination of sulfachloropyridazine and sulfapyridine has been developed. This method was developed by using self-prepared molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as the stationary phase. The polymers were prepared by a noncovalent method with sulfachloropyridazine as the template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer and ethylene glycoldimethacrylate as the cross-linker in the presence of chloroform as the solvent. In order to compare the chromatographic data from the stationary phase, the retention time of sulfachloropyridazine and sulfapyridine was given. The separation factors (α) were 1.79–1.89 that showed that the MIPs were able to recognize sulfachloropyridazine and sulfapyridine.

Physicochemical and structural characteristics of sorghum starch as affected by acid‐ethanol hydrolysis

Abstract: Acid alcohol hydrolysis of starch is a sustainable chemical method and versatile tool to control molecular weight Sorghum starch was acid hydrolyzed in ethanol for durations ranging from 24 to 240 h The native and acid ethanol treated (AET) starches were investigated for their physicochemical, thermal, structural and pasting characteristics Native starch showed degree of polymerization of 2624 anhydrous glucose units (AGU), amylose content of 26%, swelling power and solubility of 122 g/g and 5%, respectively AET starches showed significantly (p < 005) higher solubility (198–584%) whereas lower values for swelling power (43–11 g/g), were observed The chain length profiles of debranched native and AET sorghum starches, as obtained from high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), indicated preferential degradation of amylose and amylopectin long chains This led to decrease in intrinsic and pasting viscosities for AET starches Comparison of X-ray diffractograms (XRD) of native and AET treated sorghum starches showed that there is no change in the diffraction pattern (‘A’ type) upon treatment however the relative crystallinity was observed to decrease upon hydrolysis Granule structure remained intact however, with AET birefringence loss in some granules was observed, which indicated change in radial orientation of double helices and chain mobility at granule centre The results indicated that sorghum starch can be tailored by AET and could be used in the food industry for various food formulations

Effects of Prevalent and Incident Chronic Kidney Disease on Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation.

Abstract: Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a well-known complication of atrial fibrillation (AF) but how the incident CKD affects the clinical outcomes amongst AF patients is not clear. Methods: Our study data were retrieved from National Health Insurance Research Data for the period from 1996 to 2013. Incident AF patients were classified as non-CKD group (n = 7272), prevalent CKD group (n = 2104), and incident CKD group (n = 1507) based on administrative codes. Patients with prevalent CKD were those participants who already had CKD ahead of the index date of AF, whereas patients with incident CKD were those who developed CKD after the index date and the remaining patients were designated as non-CKD. Multivariate-adjusted time-dependent Cox models were conducted to estimate the associations of CKD status with the outcomes of interest, including heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke or systemic thromboembolism, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular (CV) mortality, expressed as hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The mean age was 70.8 ± 13.3 years, and 55.4% of the studied population were men. In Cox models, the adjusted rate of HF, AMI, all-cause mortality, and CV mortality was greater in the prevalent and incident CKD groups, ranging from 1.31-fold to 4.28-fold, compared with non-CKD group. Notably, incident CKD was associated with higher rates of HF (HR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.67–1.93), stroke or systemic thromboembolism (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.22–1.45), AMI (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.25–1.71), all-cause mortality (HR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.68–1.85), and CV mortality (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.92–2.36) compared with prevalent CKD. Conclusion: The presence of CKD was associated with higher risks of subsequent adverse clinical outcomes in patients with AF. Our study was even highlighted by the finding that incident CKD was linked to higher risks of outcome events compared with prevalent CKD.

Caregivers' willingness to pay for Alzheimer's disease medications in Taiwan.

Abstract: Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) exerts significant financial expenses on caregivers, and knowledge of caregivers' support for out-of-pocket payment is of great importance for policymaking on the insurance coverage of future AD medication in Taiwan. We aimed to investigate caregivers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a hypothetical curative AD medication and the effect of different factors on the amount of WTP. Methods Informal caregivers of patients with AD and informants of patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were included. An iterative bidding game technique, followed by a dichotomous choice questions and a final open-ended question were used to elicit caregivers' maximum WTP. The correlations between the WTP and characteristics of caregiver and patient were analyzed, including sex, educational level, severity of dementia, neuropsychiatric symptoms assessed by Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), time needed to support patients assessed by Caregiver Activity Survey (CAS), and caregivers' monthly income. Results 1134 informal caregivers of patients with AD or MCI were included. Caregivers of patients with AD were willing to pay for a curative AD medication, and their maximum WTP value was higher than informants of MCI patients. Among patients with AD and patients with MCI, caregivers' monthly income was positively correlated with WTP. Apathy subsyndrome was the only factor correlated with percentage of WTP in caregiver's income in the MCI group. Conclusion Support for out-of-pocket WTP for a hypothetical curative AD medication was significantly related to caregiver's income.

Differential relationship of uric acid to mortality and clinical biomarkers of aging according to grip strength in older adults: a cohort study.

Abstract: Uric acid is both a pro-oxidant and antioxidant. We investigated serum uric acid's association with mortality and aging biomarkers in older adults with varying levels of grip strength. A total of 5329 community-dwelling adults aged ≥55 years underwent assessments of serum uric acid levels, grip strength, and biomarkers of diverse physiological systems. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. We observed a significant (P < .001) interaction between uric acid levels and grip strength on all-cause mortality risk. Among participants with low grip strength, a nonlinear association (P for nonlinearity = .006) was observed between serum uric acid levels and mortality risk after multivariate adjustment. Compared with participants with neither extreme uric acid levels nor low grip strength, those with a combination of high serum uric acid and low grip strength exhibited greater risks of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-2.02) and deviations in biomarkers of specific systems, so did those with a combination of low serum uric acid and low grip strength (aHR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.13-2.05). In conclusion, there was a J-shaped association between serum uric acid and the risk of all-cause mortality in older adults. This was primarily true for those with low grip strength.