About the Authors

Yi-Chun Chen

Affiliations Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

Yu-Chieh Su

Affiliations Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

Ching-Chih Lee

df254246@tzuchi.com.tw (C-CL); solomons1117@yahoo.com.tw (S-JH)

Affiliations Department of Otolaryngology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

Yung-Sung Huang

df254246@tzuchi.com.tw (C-CL); solomons1117@yahoo.com.tw (S-JH)

Affiliations Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

Shang-Jyh Hwang

Affiliation Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: Y-CC C-CL Y-SH. Performed the experiments: C-CL. Analyzed the data: Y-CC C-CL Y-SH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: Y-CS. Wrote the paper: Y-CC. Provided constructive opinions and suggestions: Y-CC Y-CS C-CL Y-SH S-JH. Study supervision: C-CL Y-SH.