Tag: Taiwan

By combining hyperspectral imaging with deep learning-based wavelength selection, the research team successfully created a new approach to egg quality assessment. The technology is the result of collaboration between a research team led by Associate Professor Yung-Kun Chuang from the TMU School of Food Safety and Professor Pauline Ong from the Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).

The research findings were published in Current Research in Food Science, an international journal with a 2024 impact factor of 7.0, ranking in the top 9.9% of the Food Science & Technology category. The publication highlights TMU’s growing influence in global food safety research and advanced AI applications.

Associate Professor Yung-Kun Chuang, School of Food Safety, College of Nutrition, Taipei Medical University

Eggs are one of the most vital and complete protein sources in our daily diet—rich in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. However, the freshness of eggs, which is key to their nutritional value, safety, and overall quality, can be compromised during storage, transportation, and distribution. Traditional evaluation methods rely on destructive laboratory testing, making them unsuitable for real-time or large-scale monitoring along the production and supply chain. This has driven the need for rapid, accurate, and non-destructive technologies that can assess egg quality without breaking the shell.

Research Workflow and Data Analysis Summary

To overcome these limitations, the research team developed a novel wavelength selection technique that integrates distance correlation analysis with a convolutional neural network model. This approach analyzes hyperspectral images of eggs to reduce spectral variability, identify the most informative wavelengths, and to enhance the accuracy of freshness levels. Compared with commonly used wavelength selection regression models, this innovative method demonstrated stability, reliability and overall performance, offering strong potential for real-world industrial adoption.

The achievements of this international collaboration pointed a new era in egg quality control. The AI-powered hyperspectral egg scanner provides fast and non-destructive testing, and provides quantifiable freshness assessments, and adaptable across production, processing, and distribution.

assessments, and adaptable across production, processing, and distribution. 111modernization of the egg industryalso reinforces TMU’s leadership in food safety research and artificial intelligence applications.intelligence applications.

Dr. Tian-Shin Yeh, Associate Professor and attending physician at Taipei Medical University (TMU), recently shared her academic perspective on the relationship between dairy consumption and cognitive health in an editorial published in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. Tian-Shin Yeh is Associate Professor and attending physician at Taipei Medical University, with expertise in epidemiology and evidence-based interpretation of long-term health studies.

In the article, titled High-Fat Dairy and Cognitive Health: What Are the Alternatives, Dr. Yeh examined findings from a long-term cohort study investigating the potential association between dairy intake and dementia risk. Drawing on her expertise in epidemiology and evidence-based interpretation of population studies, she highlighted several methodological considerations that are important when interpreting the study’s conclusions.

Dr. Yeh noted that the research relied on dietary data collected at a single time point and that the reported associations lost statistical significance in certain follow-up analyses. These limitations, she explained, suggest that the findings should be interpreted with caution and should not be taken as definitive evidence that high-fat dairy products are inherently neuroprotective.

Instead, Dr. Yeh emphasized that broader dietary patterns and food substitutions may play a more meaningful role in long-term brain health. In particular, replacing processed or high-fat red meats with foods of higher nutritional quality may contribute more substantially to cognitive health outcomes.

Her commentary reflects TMU researchers’ active participation in international scientific dialogue and their commitment to promoting evidence-based perspectives on nutrition and dementia research.

Dr. Tian-Shin Yeh’s editorial:

High-Fat Dairy and Cognitive Health: What Are the Alternatives

https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000214587

Summary

A new study from Taipei Medical University, led by Assoc. Prof. Jihwan Myung of the Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness (GIMBC), reveals how disrupted sleep, mood stabilizers, and artificial light interfere with women’s menstrual cycles and mental health—highlighting the need for rhythm-aware treatments that align the body’s daily and monthly clocks.

This study reveals how disruptions in the body’s internal clock (caused by modern life and certain mood medications) can interfere with women’s hormonal health and potentially worsen mood disorders. This research underscores the need for more rhythm-aware treatments that balance mental health and hormonal well-being.

Sleep Loss, Shift Work, and Mood Drugs Disrupt Menstrual Cycles in Millions of Women

Millions of women experience disruptions in their menstrual cycles due to irregular sleep patterns, shift work, jet lag, and mood stabilizers. These disruptions not only affect reproductive health but can also signal or worsen mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder. The study calls for a better understanding of how biological timing systems regulate both mood and menstruation—information that could shape how doctors manage mental health in women.

New Insights Reveal How the Body’s Daily Clock Governs Monthly Hormonal Cycles

The study outlines several vital discoveries that explain how circadian rhythms and reproductive cycles are intertwined and how this relationship can be disrupted. The circadian clock refers to the body’s internal 24-hour timing system, which helps regulate sleep, hormone release, and other essential bodily functions.

• Disrupted rhythms affect cycles: Exposure to artificial light at night and irregular schedules can interfere with the body’s circadian clock, which in turn can disrupt menstrual cycles.
• Mood stabilizers have hormonal side effects: Lithium, a common drug used to treat bipolar disorder, was shown to lengthen circadian rhythms and disturb hormonal cycles, possibly contributing to menstrual irregularities.
• Timing systems are deeply connected: The brain’s master clock (in the hypothalamus) not only keeps daily time but also interacts with reproductive systems that operate on monthly cycles.
• Photoperiod matters: Shorter daylight periods tend to lengthen reproductive cycles, while longer daylight periods shorten them—suggesting our internal systems are sensitive to seasonal changes.

“Our biological clocks don’t just govern when we sleep. They deeply shape how we feel and how our bodies function. By understanding how daily and monthly rhythms interact, we can begin designing treatments that support both mental and hormonal health, rather than forcing women to choose between the two,” said Prof. Jihwan Myung, lead author of the study.

Study Combines Human and Animal Data to Show How Mood Drugs Disrupt Hormonal Rhythms

The study drew on existing anatomical and physiological research, combining insights from animal models and human data. It reviewed how various biological clocks, daily (circadian) and monthly (ovarian), interact in the brain and reproductive system. Special focus was placed on how mood medications like lithium alter these rhythms. The author advocates for future models that integrate multiple timescales to predict and manage these effects more accurately.

Bridging the Gap: Why Mental Health Treatments Must Consider Women’s Hormonal Rhythms

This research highlights a critical but often overlooked intersection between mental and reproductive health. Understanding how the body’s clocks operate together opens the door to more personalized, rhythm-informed treatments—helping women manage mood disorders without compromising hormonal health. This research perspective was published in Chronobiology in Medicine in June 2025, contributing valuable insight to the growing field of chronobiological research.

Original Research Article: Integrating Circadian and Reproductive Rhythms in Mood Regulation

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Original Article: Integrating Circadian and Reproductive Rhythms in Mood Regulation