【2012/03/16中央社】中央研究院今天表示,院長翁啟惠將赴美進行學術訪問,包含和柏克萊加州大學洽談合作,與聖地牙哥加州大學簽署生醫學術合作協議,同時將出席美國化學會,獲頒亞瑟科博獎。中央研究院表示,美國化學會去年宣布翁啟惠獲得2012年亞瑟科博獎,而隸屬該協會的專業周刊「Chemical & Engineering News」2月也訪談重量級國際化學學者,介紹翁啟惠在化學領域的傑出研究和在醣類化學與生物學的貢獻。中研院表示,哈佛大學教授懷賽德(George Whitesides)形容翁啟惠是合成多醣化合物的最重要科學家,也是醣生物學的主要貢獻者之一;日本理化研究院長野依良治(Ryoji Noyori)則認為,翁啟惠在醣分子合成上的貢獻無人可及。中研院表示,翁啟惠除了將出席美國化學會頒獎典禮,獲頒亞瑟科博獎外,也會參加美國國家科學院「醣科學的未來」政策報告的研訂,並與美國柏克萊加州大學洽談合作,也會和聖地牙哥加州大學簽署生醫領域學術合作協議,促進台美學術交流。
Sunday, March 18, 2012
DOH plans round of beef, pork and fowl inspections
The Department of Health (DOH, 衛生署) said it is planning a fresh round of ractopamine testing on beef, pork, duck, and geese products on the Taiwan market. Starting March 20, the DOH starts up inspection of 1,000 meat products: 500 articles of beef, 400 articles of pork, and 100 articles of duck and geese products. All 22 cities and county governments have agreed to continue regular checks and to cooperate in an additional island-wide inspections, said DOH Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) after meeting with heads of local health bureaus yesterday. Health authorities will take products from grocery stores, hypermarts, traditional markets, and restaurants, according to Pan Jyh-quan (潘志寬) of the DOH's Food and Drug Division. Labs will test for ractopamine and other banned beta-agonists. Products that violate current food-safety regulations will be posted publicly.
Lot-by-lot Protocol: Vice Premier Meanwhile, a new Executive Yuan committee for food safety set the protocol of an upgrade to border inspections. The DOH said Thursday that lot-by-lot inspections on beef imports may begin as early as next Monday. Lot-by-lot inspections won't apply to all beef shipments, said Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) at the Legislative Yuan yesterday. Lot-by-lot applies only to imports from countries that have previous violations on record. Under the lot-by-lot policy, five consecutive batches must pass inspection under a 100-percent sampling rate. After that, sampling is dialed down to a rate of 20 percent. If another five consecutive batches pass inspection at the 20-percent rate, sampling falls back to 5 percent. Jiang stressed that "the net does have holes," as lot-by-lot is not piece-by-piece inspection. For countries with no record of food-safety violations, sampling remains at the original rate of 5 percent, he said. Jiang is leading the committee for food safety, which the Executive Yuan announced Thursday. The unit is charged with oversight with beef-import inspection and with otherwise restoring public confidence in food safety.
Five Principles Jiang told reporters that the inter-departmental committee set five principles for inspections: rigor, transparency, increased penalties, practicality and expanded participation. The task force is negotiating to include the Council of Agriculture, consumer protection groups and other professionals in the inspection process, according to Jiang.
Unusual Practice, Unusual Times The step up from a 5-percent to a 100-percent check is an "unusual practice for unusual times," Jiang continued. The measure is quite rare in the international community and may trouble trade relations with other WTO members, he said. To eliminate snags on the global stage, Jiang said he has asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to begin communicating with foreign companies. He also asked the DOH to assess the manpower and budgetary needs of the new inspection policy. Jiang said that next week he will review the new lot-by-lot checks on-site.
Friday, March 16, 2012
肺癌內視鏡微創手術 (Thoracoscopy for lung cancer resection)
標靶式腫瘤切除: 肺癌細針定位 (needle localization)
射頻腫瘤燒灼用於特定分期肝癌!!
RFA的治療方法和原理陳明志醫師2012/02/14射頻腫瘤燒灼(Radiofrequency Tumor Ablation簡稱RFA)是利用一治療探針(Needle Probe)置入腫瘤組織中,當電流由儀器治療探針經過身體組織和體表的電極片時,在探針周圍產生高射頻作用於腫瘤及附近細胞,並產生熱能,當溫度達到攝氏50-100℃時便可造成腫瘤細胞凝固性壞死。射頻腫瘤燒灼可用於身體多處腫瘤的治療而且最常使用於肝臟腫瘤特別是國人罹患率高的肝細胞癌(hepatocellular carcinoma,HCC)之治療。近年來世界文獻報告經皮穿刺使用射頻腫瘤燒灼,對於三公分以下的小肝癌,有很好的療效;其最佳治療效果可在低危險性下達到腫瘤完全壞死。在本院肝癌治療中,射頻腫瘤燒灼和各式治療方法一樣使用在整個肝癌疾病的治療過程中。由主治醫師和團隊成員討論出臨床適合使用射頻腫瘤燒灼的患者,再經由介入性放射科醫師對腫瘤作實際影像及技術評估和說明之後,在安全有效的情形下施行。目前以肝細胞癌,以及大腸癌肝臟轉移腫瘤為主。一般而言,腫瘤大小,不大於4公分,數目小於4顆者,較適合為之。特別是肝細胞癌,效果會更好。約有90-95%的腫瘤,在半年至兩年的追蹤後,完全壞死,而轉移性大腸癌,約有52-93%的腫瘤完全壞死。射頻腫瘤燒灼的方法是由介入性放射科醫師在影像導引下(常用超音波,電腦斷層等),給予局部麻醉和靜脈鎮定/止痛劑(極少情形需要施行全身麻醉)後,將治療探針(Needle Probe)穿過皮膚,置入腫瘤組織中,接上儀器,利用高射頻產生熱能,讓溫度達到攝氏50-100℃將腫瘤細胞凝固壞死。一次燒灼約12(6-18)分鐘,可產生約3-5公分的壞死區。視腫瘤大小,決定燒灼的方式和時間。一般而言,與外科切除相同,治療範圍必須涵蓋腫瘤周圍的區域而達到徹底的治療而減少局部復發機會。術後追蹤腫瘤的治療效果,主要以電腦斷層CT和磁振照影MRI為主。
適應症(Indications)腫瘤病患或病情不適合手術治療。一個腫瘤小於5公分或1-4個腫瘤,皆小於3公分。局部控制腫瘤疾病。經團隊討論評估適合接受治療。禁忌症(contraindications)重度肝功能異常。嚴重而無法矯正的凝血功能異常。難以控制的大量腹水。呼吸急促或無法配合。腫瘤太大或太多。
RFA的優點傷口小、不用開刀。治療時間短。可以將腫瘤組織完全殺死。併發症發生率低。短住院天數。簡單、安全、復發率低。可以與其他的治療相互配合(如肝動脈栓塞化學治療,酒精注射,手術,放射治療等)。適應症較多(如術後復發、肝腎功能不良、高危險性手術併發症的病人、少量腹水皆可用此法)。對於轉移性癌症治療效果比酒精注射更有效。療效接近外科手術切除。
RFA治療後注意事項檢查後病人需平躺4小時。假如沒有禁水問題應多喝水約1500-200cc/天。可能會有輕微頭痛發燒,暈或感覺沒力氣、呼吸困難、胸痛或呼吸時會感疼痛不適。
RFA的可能併發症致死率小於千分之二。疼痛,腹痛。輕度發燒。皮膚灼傷。肝功能異常。對鎮靜/止痛劑過敏。出血:需要輸血,血管栓塞或開刀治療者,約1%。燒灼穿刺路徑的腫瘤復發約1.5%。燒灼附近器官破損(心臟,肺臟,膽囊,腸胃道,腎/腎上腺,神經等)。肝臟血管/膽管損傷,造成肝功能異常。併發膿瘍,特別是在糖尿病的患者,小於1%。敗血症。神經性心臟及血管異常反應。
