To explore the efficacy of community rehabilitation for facilitating daily function among patients with mental illness.

Purpose: To explore the efficacy of community rehabilitation for facilitating daily function among patients with mental illness.

Design And Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used. Two hundred and sixty-four participants completed a daily living function scale questionnaire and provided disease-related information.

Variant GADL1 and response to lithium therapy in bipolar I disorder.

Background: Lithium has been a first-line choice for maintenance treatment of bipolar disorders to prevent relapse of mania and depression, but many patients do not have a response to lithium treatment.

Methods: We selected subgroups from a sample of 1761 patients of Han Chinese descent with bipolar I disorder who were recruited by the Taiwan Bipolar Consortium. We assessed their response to lithium treatment using the Alda scale and performed a genomewide association study on samples from one subgroup of 294 patients with bipolar I disorder who were receiving lithium treatment.

Effect of amphetamine on corrected-QT interval change during methadone maintenance treatment in Taiwan: a prospective cohort study.

Introduction And Aims: Previous studies have suggested that methadone is associated with prolonged corrected-QT (QTc) interval, but published prospective research studies in this area are relatively scarce. This study investigates QTc interval change among methadone maintenance patients and possible associated risk factors. One of the aims is to explore the effect of amphetamines.

Prevalence, correlates, and risk perception of HIV infection among heroin users in Central Taiwan.

We investigated the prevalence and correlated factors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among heroin users attending methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs in Central Taiwan, and explored the degree of risk perception of HIV infection among the participants. Our study participants were 781 heroin users seeking treatment at the MMT program at Tsaotun Psychiatric Center in Taiwan. The presence of HIV antibodies was identified by microparticle enzyme immunoassay and confirmed by western blot.

Positional signaling and expression of ENHANCER OF TRY AND CPC1 are tuned to increase root hair density in response to phosphate deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Phosphate (Pi) deficiency induces a multitude of responses aimed at improving the acquisition of Pi, including an increased density of root hairs. To understand the mechanisms involved in Pi deficiency-induced alterations of the root hair phenotype in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we analyzed the patterning and length of root epidermal cells under control and Pi-deficient conditions in wild-type plants and in four mutants defective in the expression of master regulators of cell fate, CAPRICE (CPC), ENHANCER OF TRY AND CPC 1 (ETC1), WEREWOLF (WER) and SCRAMBLED (SCM). From this analysis we deduced that the longitudinal cell length of root epidermal cells is dependent on the correct perception of a positional signal ('cortical bias') in both control and Pi-deficient plants; mutants defective in the receptor of the signal, SCM, produced short cells characteristic of root hair-forming cells (trichoblasts).

Andrographolide derivatives inhibit guanine nucleotide exchange and abrogate oncogenic Ras function.

Aberrant signaling by oncogenic mutant rat sarcoma (Ras) proteins occurs in ∼15% of all human tumors, yet direct inhibition of Ras by small molecules has remained elusive. Recently, several small-molecule ligands have been discovered that directly bind Ras and inhibit its function by interfering with exchange factor binding. However, it is unclear whether, or how, these ligands could lead to drugs that act against constitutively active oncogenic mutant Ras.

Functional analysis of human thromboxane synthase polymorphic variants.

Background: Thromboxane A synthase (TXAS) metabolizes the cyclooxygenase product prostaglandin (PG) H2 into thromboxane H2 (TXA2), a potent inducer of blood vessel constriction and platelet aggregation. Nonsynonymous polymorphisms in the TXAS gene have the potential to alter TXAS activity and affect TXA2 generation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the functional effects of genetic variants in the TXAS protein, including K258E, L357V, Q417E, E450K, and T451N.

Long-term psychological outcome of 1999 Taiwan earthquake survivors: a survey of a high-risk sample with property damage.

Objective: Severe natural disasters can cause long-term psychological impact on the survivors. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and risk factors of posttraumatic stress symptoms and psychiatric morbidity among survivors of the severe earthquake that occurred in Chi-Chi, Taiwan, in September 21, 1999.

Methods: A total of 6412 earthquake survivors whose houses were destroyed by earthquake were recruited about 2 years after the disaster.