Hair is a noninvasive valuable biospecimen for the long-term assessment of endogenous metabolic disturbance. Whether the hair is suitable for identifying biomarkers of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) process remains unknown. We aim to investigate the metabolism changes in hair after β-amyloid (Aβ 1-42 ) exposure in rats using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry–based untargeted and targe...

The island of Taiwan represents an ideal context for studying the effects of climatic oscillations and topographic variation on large herbivores due to its varied tropical to sub-tropical climate zones at different elevational ranges. We explored the phylogenetics of Formosan sambar deer ( Rusa unicolor swinhoii ) using the control region of the mitochondrial genome. We detected 18 haplotypes among 454 sequences across the isl...

Donor milk from the human milk bank is important for vulnerable infants without their mothers’ own milk. Longitudinal changes in toxic metals in donor milk has not been reported. This study aimed to assess the effect of donors’ demographic characteristics, life habits and dietary habits on the concentration of metals in breastmilk donated to a human milk bank and to assess the health risk of lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) exposure...

The bigfin reef squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana , are a valuable commercial species in East Asian regions such as Taiwan and Japan. A lack of genomic information limits the application of potential aquaculture techniques, especially in breeding when considering the hatching rate of offspring. In some squids and cuttlefishes, symbiotic bacteria are transmitted from the accessory nidamental gland (ANG) to the jelly coat of eggs....

Algal reefs, concreted by crustose coralline algae (CCA), are the main biotic reefs in temperate waters but rare in the subtropics and tropics. The world's largest known intertidal algal reef in the subtropics is the Taoyuan Algal Reef (TAR) located in the northwestern coast of Taiwan. The biodiversity and ecology of the TAR are scarcely explored, and now the reef is imperiled by industrialization. Here, we document cryptic sp...

Some cephalopods carry microorganisms in two specialized organs, the light organ and the accessory nidamental gland (ANG). For the light organ, comprehensive mechanisms have been described for winnowing (bacterial selection) and maintenance of the symbiotic luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri ( V. fischeri ). However, the mechanisms controlling bacterial selection and maintenance during bacterial colonization of the ANG are...

Purpose Robot-assisted gait rehabilitation has been proposed as a plausible supplementary rehabilitation strategy in stroke rehabilitation in the last decade. However, its exact benefit over traditional rehabilitation remain sparse and unclear. It is therefore the purpose of the current study to comparatively investigate the clinical benefits of the additional robot-assisted training in acute stroke patients compared to standa...