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Eastern Taiwan (eastern + taiwan)
Selected AbstractsHibiscus polyphenol-rich extract induces apoptosis in human gastric carcinoma cells via p53 phosphorylation and p38 MAPK/FasL cascade pathwayMOLECULAR CARCINOGENESIS, Issue 2 2005Hui-Hsuan Lin Abstract In view of the continuing need for effective anticancer agents, and the association of diet with reduced cancer risk, edible plants are increasingly being considered as sources of anticancer drugs. Hibiscus sabdariffa Linne (Malvaceae), an attractive plant believed to be native to Africa, is cultivated in the Sudan and Eastern Taiwan. Polyphenols had been demonstrated previously to possess antioxidative and antitumor promoting effects. In this study, investigations were conducted to examine the mechanism of the anticancer activity of H. sabdariffa L., Hibiscus polyphenol-rich extracts (HPE). Using HPLC assay, HPE was demonstrated to contain various polyphenols. HPE induced cell death of eight kinds of cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner. Among them human gastric carcinoma (AGS) cells were the most susceptible to HPE (0.95 mg/mL HPE inhibited its growth by 50%). Our results revealed that AGS cells underwent DNA fragmentation, and had an increase in the distribution of hypodiploid phase (apoptotic peak, 52.36%) after a 24-h treatment with HPE (2.0 mg/mL). This effect of HPE in AGS cells might be mediated via p53 signaling and p38 MAPK/FasL cascade pathway, as demonstrated by an increase in the phosphorylation of p53 and the usage of a specific p38 inhibitor, SB203580. Thus, our data present the first evidence of HPE as an apoptosis inducer in AGS cells and these findings may open interesting perspectives to the strategy in human gastric cancer treatment. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Mass movements caused by recent tectonic activity: The 1999 Chi-chi earthquake in central TaiwanISLAND ARC, Issue 4 2003Wen-Neng Wang Abstract The Chi-chi earthquake (MS = 7.7), which occurred in September 1999, seriously damaged central Taiwan. Approximately 2 years later (July 2001), the Toraji typhoon brought a heavy rainstorm (650 mm rain/day) and triggered widespread landslides in central Taiwan and parts of eastern Taiwan. Approximately 10 000 Chi-chi earthquake-induced landslides and 6000 Toraji typhoon-related mass movements were delineated in an area of 2400 km2 using Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT; French earth resource satellite) images. The landslide distribution could be closely related to the distribution of peak ground acceleration registered during the Chi-chi earthquake. The study area was composed of Tertiary sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, whose age and induration increased eastward. The earthquake-induced landslides were mostly distributed in the region between the Chelungpu Fault and the Lishan Fault to the east, whereas they were few in the region east of the Lishan Fault. The Toraji typhoon in 2001 severely damaged both regions that had been shattered by the Chi-chi earthquake in 1999. The occurrence of earthquake-induced landslides can be correlated with epicentral distance, and their occurrence has more influence from the rock type than from the ground motion. [source] Decline of hepatitis B carrier rate in vaccinated and unvaccinated subjects: Sixteen years after newborn vaccination program in TaiwanJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 4 2003Hans Hsienhong Lin Abstract Taiwan was an endemic area for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and related liver diseases cause a significant drain of public resources. To control the endemic, a nation-wide newborn vaccination program was started in 1985. We reviewed the results of the annual survey for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) performed in freshmen class of two high schools in Hualien, eastern Taiwan, from 1991 to 2001. A total of 10,194 students, most of them 15 years old, were tested for serum HBsAg using enzyme immunoassays. There is a significant trend (P,<,0.0001) of decreasing HBsAg carrier rate from 20.3 to 4.4% in males and 14.3% to 2.4% in females, respectively, over 11 years. The HBsAg carrier rate was 16.0,20.3% in students surveyed during 1991,1993 (born more than 6 years before the start of the national vaccination program), which decreased to 7.7,11.9% during 1994,1999 (born 1,6 years before the program). It further declined to 4.7% and 3.4% in 2000 and 2001 (born after the start of the program). The HBsAg carrier rate in male students was significantly higher than that in female students in most of the years. The HBV newborn vaccination program not only successfully prevented most of the perinatal transmission of HBV but also reduced horizontal transmission of HBV to children born up to 6 years before the start of the program. Also, the protection persisted for at least 15 years. J. Med. Virol. 69:471,474, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] PHYSICOCHEMICAL COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF CERAMICS: A CASE STUDY IN KENTING, TAIWAN,ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 4 2006MAA-LING CHEN The composition of ceramics does not just reflect the component of some specific, unprocessed, geological, raw material source, but also certain forms of human behaviour involved in its manufacture. The purpose of this research project is to apply the acid-extraction chemical method, complemented by a thin-section petrographic study, to the compositional analyses of certain local ceramic collections (mainly from several sites in the southern Taiwan area). The results present the raw materials that the ceramic manufacturers of the two cultural traditions (O-laun-pi Phase II and Phase III,IV), which overlapped temporally, used. These materials came from the same sources, but the ceramics were manufactured in different ways. Particularly, the people of O-laun-pi Phase III,IV also procured certain materials from either local sources or from somewhere in eastern Taiwan to make their pots. The results also indicate that there might have been a variation in terms of their manufacture among sites of the same cultural tradition. [source] Pliocene onset of rapid exhumation in Taiwan during arc,continent collision: new insights from detrital thermochronometryBASIN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2010L. A. Kirstein ABSTRACT The Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan contains the remnants of the Pliocene,Pleistocene retro-foredeep basin of the ongoing Penglai orogeny. These sedimentary successions record the earliest exhumation of the Central Range, Taiwan. We dated detrital Plio-Pleistocene sediments in the Coastal Range using multiple thermochronometers [fission-track, zircon (U,Th)/He and U/Pb dating] to document changes in exhumation rate through time. Fission-track grain ages in 2,4-Myr-old sediments were not reset by the Penglai orogeny and reflect the early stage removal of the sedimentary cover. This early stage, when exhumation rates were low, could encompass both the accretionary wedge phase of the orogen and the early arc,continent collision. Sediments younger than 2-Myr-old yield Pliocene zircon fission-track grain ages and suggest that exhumation, transport and deposition occurred within 0.4,1.5 Myr. The recorded onset of rapid exhumation in the Pliocene is contemporaneous with other major tectonic changes in the region, including an increase in subsidence rate in both the pro- and retro-foredeep basins and a change in the wedge kinematics from internal shortening to underplating. [source] | ||||||||||