Measuring adolescent health literacy in Taiwan: validation of the health literacy assessment scale for adolescents.

Background: This study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the Health Literacy Assessment Scale for Adolescents (HAS-A) and conduct a comparative analysis of adolescent health literacy between Taiwan and other countries.

Methods: The Chinese version of the HAS-A was completed by 2,312 adolescents in the fifth and sixth grades of a primary school. Psychometric properties were examined using consistent internal reliability and confirmatory factor analysis.

Tapering of Biological Agents in Juvenile ERA Patients in Daily Clinical Practice.

We aim to evaluate the proportion and characteristics of enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) patients in whom medications can be withdrawn in daily practice and to analyze the factors associated with flare-ups during medication tapering of these patients. We retrospectively reviewed records of patients under 16 years old diagnosed with ERA from April 2001 to March 2020 in one tertiary medical center in Taiwan. Patients were categorized by different medication uses: conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) only and cDMARDs plus biologics.

Utilizing ultrasound findings of a single indicator joint to assess non-systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Background: Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) has been used worldwide in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but is beginning to play an increasing role in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this study was to investigate the application of MSUS findings of a single indicator joint in JIA to assess the disease activity and classify disease subtype.

Methods: Thirty-five non-systemic JIA patients with a total of 62 visits were retrospectively recruited in this study.

Onset age is a risk factor for refractory pediatric IgA vasculitis: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Though outcome differences between children and adults with immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV) has been well documented, it remains unclear if disease features in pediatric IgAV patients vary with onset age. We aimed to explore clinical features and prognosis of pediatric IgAV stratified by onset age.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of patients under 18 years old diagnosed with IgAV from January 1999 to December 2018 in one tertiary medical center in Taiwan.

A Maternal Effect on Queen Production in Honeybees.

Influences from the mother on offspring phenotype, known as maternal effects, are an important cause of adaptive phenotypic plasticity [1, 2]. Eusocial insects show dramatic phenotypic plasticity with morphologically distinct reproductive (queen) and worker castes [3, 4]. The dominant paradigm for honeybees (Apis mellifera) is that castes are environmentally rather than genetically determined, with the environment and diet of young larvae causing caste differentiation [5-9].

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Diseases: Review of Methodologies and Report of Our Experience as a Regional Reference Laboratory.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has become a crucial approach in helping carriers of inherited disorders to give birth to healthy offspring. In this study, we review PGD methodologies and explore the use of amplification refractory mutation system quantitative polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-qPCR) and/or linkage analysis for PGD in neurodegenerative diseases that are clinically relevant with typical features, such as late onset, and which are severely debilitating. A total of 13 oocyte retrieval cycles were conducted in 10 cases with various neurodegenerative diseases.

High-Efficiency CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing in Honeybee () Embryos.

The honeybee () is an important insect pollinator of wild flowers and crops, playing critical roles in the global ecosystem. Additionally, the honeybee serves as an ideal social insect model. Therefore, functional studies on honeybee genes are of great interest.

Skin nerve pathology: Biomarkers of premanifest and manifest amyloid neuropathy.

Objective: Small-fiber sensory and autonomic symptoms are early presentations of familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) with transthyretin (TTR) mutations. This study aimed to explore the potential of skin nerve pathologies as early and disease-progression biomarkers and their relationship with skin amyloid deposits.

Methods: Skin biopsies were performed in patients and carriers to measure intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density, sweat gland innervation index of structural protein gene product 9.

Short-Term Exposure to Lambda-Cyhalothrin Negatively Affects the Survival and Memory-Related Characteristics of Worker Bees Apis mellifera.

Pesticides are considered one of the major contemporary stressors of honey bee health. In this study, the effects of short-term exposure to lambda-cyhalothrin on lifespan, learning, and memory-related characteristics of Apis mellifera were systematically examined. Short-term exposure to lambda-cyhalothrin in worker bees reduced lifespan, affected learning and memory performance, reduced the homing ability, and influenced the expression levels of two learning and memory-related genes of A.

[Remote sensing retrieval of vegetation coverage in arid areas based on multiple endmember spectral unmixing].

Vegetation coverage is an important indicator in the assessment of terrestrial ecosystem and land desertification. By using the data acquired from the novel hyperspectral sensor HIS in Chinese HJ-1 small satellite, the suitable endmember spectrum was extracted by the combination of pixel purity index and endmember average root mean square error. Then, the vegetation coverage (FVC) in Shihezi area of Xinjiang, Northwest China was retrieved by the model of multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA).

[Effect comparison of Wright-Giemsa stain under different conditions and its apply in cell micronucleus test].

Objective: To apply the Wright-Giemsa stain in micronucleus test and to explore the stain outcomes of Wright-Giemsa dye of various proportions and staining times.

Methods: Use Wright-Giemsa dye, Wright dye (staining time 3 min) and Giemsa dye (staining time 5 min) to stain HepG2 and then observe the staining effect. The Wright-Giemsa dye was applied under 5 different proportions (3:1-1:3) and different staining times (1, 3, 5, 10, 15 min).