DRD4 VNTR 4/4 homozygosity as a genetic biomarker for treatment selection in patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: There seems to be an association between the DRD4 48-bp VNTR polymorphisms and antipsychotic treatment response, but there is a rare reference to confirm this finding. Hence, the present study tried to investigate the association between DRD4 48-bp VNTR polymorphisms and the treatment response of antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia in Taiwan, using a propensity score matching (PSM) method.

Methods: A total of 882 participants were enrolled in this study and completed informed consent, research questionnaires, including demographic information and the revised Chinese version Beliefs about Voices Questionnaire, and blood sampling.

Dissociative Trait as a Mediator of Problematic Internet Use in Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Disabilities.

Purpose: This study used data from a national birth cohort study to investigate the duration of internet use at the age of 12 years among children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disabilities (IDs) and learning disabilities (LDs) at the age of five and a half years (66 months) to understand whether an ADHD, ASD, ID and LD diagnosis in childhood increases the risk of problematic internet use (PIU) in adolescence. Furthermore, the pathway relationship of dissociative absorptive trait with PIU and these diagnoses was also investigated.

Methods: The 5.

Designing the antimicrobial peptide with centrosymmetric and amphipathic characterizations for improving antimicrobial activity.

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections are becoming a serious health issue and will cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050. As a result, the development of new antimicrobial agents is urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in the innate immune systems of various organisms to effectively fend off invading pathogens.

Air pollution during the perinatal period and neurodevelopment in children: A national population study in Taiwan.

Aim: To evaluate the association between ambient particulate matter no larger than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM ) during the prenatal and postnatal periods and infant neurodevelopmental parameters.

Method: We conducted a population-based birth cohort study using the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study.