Assessing low vision care and the utilisation of optical low vision aids among patients with visual impairment in Taiwan.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the quality of assessment and the utilisation of optical low vision aids (OLVAs) among people with visual impairment (VI) in Taiwan.

Methods: The study included 577 participants between 4 and 100 years of age (314 males and 263 females). All participants had been certified by the Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan, indicating that they had undergone a thorough and comprehensive low vision assessment, including evaluation of visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity, colour vision, visual fields and glare disability.

Correlating Ocular Physiology and Visual Function with Mild Cognitive Loss in Senior Citizens in Taiwan.

The transition of Taiwan from an aging to a super-aging society has come with a cost as more elderly now suffer from cognitive impairment. The main purpose of our study was to investigate if early detection can be developed so that timely intervention can be instituted. We analyzed the correlation of cognitive function with ocular physiology and visual functions between senior citizens aged 60 years or older in Taiwan.

Visual Function and Visual Perception among Senior Citizens with Mild Cognitive Impairment in Taiwan.

With the benefits of advanced medical technology, Taiwan has gradually changed from an aged society to a super-aged society. According to previous studies, the prevalence rate of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) over the age of 60 is 15% to 20%. Therefore, the main purpose of our study was to analyze the correlation of cognitive function with visual function (specifically, binocular vision and visual perception) in Taiwanese volunteers aged 60 years or older.

Myopization factors affecting urban elementary school students in Taiwan.

Purpose: To investigate factors that may contribute to the myopization of urban elementary school students in Taiwan.

Methods: Grades 1 to 6 students of the same racial background (n = 1894; mean age, 6.3-11.

Characterising visual deficits in children of an urban elementary school in Taiwan.

Purpose: The aim was to screen children from Grades 1 to 6 in an urban elementary school in Central Taiwan for visual deficits and associated parameters and, as an extension, to examine the acceptance of cycloplegic therapy as well as the lag in optimal vision correction.

Methods: Of 900 students in one school, 731 participated in the study, with parental consent. Data from 694 students, who had also completed a vision correction history were analysed.

DNA damage induced by shikonin in the presence of Cu(II) ions: potential mechanism of its activity to apoptotic cell death.

Shikonin (β-alkannin), a naphthazarin derivative, has shown a variety of abilities such as anti-inflammatory, antitumoral, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial activities. In the presence of Cu(II), shikonin caused breakage of supercoiled plasmid pBR322 DNA. Other metal ions tested [Mg(II), Ca(II), and Ni(II)] were ineffective and only Fe(II) has the same ability in the DNA breakage reaction.

Disopropyl {[(2S,3S)-2-amino-3-methyl-penta-namido](phen-yl)meth-yl}phosphinate.

There are two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(19)H(33)N(2)O(4)P. In the crystal, the two independent mol-ecules are linked via N-H⋯O=P hydrogen bonds, forming dimers.

Cloning and characterization of ApRab4, a recycling Rab protein of Aiptasia pulchella, and its implication in the symbiosome biogenesis.

The biogenesis of Symbiodinium symbiosome in the host cells of the sea anemone, Aiptasia pulchella, involves retention of ApRab5 on and exclusion of ApRab11 from the organelle. One predicted consequence of this differential Rab association is the constant membrane fusion of symbiosomes with endocytic vesicles in the absence of parallel membrane retrieval and the subsequent formation of spacious symbiosomes, which nevertheless, contradicts the common perception. To solve this discrepancy, we determined whether membrane fusion occurs between symbiosomes and endocytic vesicles, and whether ApRab11-independent recycling is involved in symbiosome biogenesis.

A new compound, brefeldin A formylate, from Penicillium sp. strain HLKG-44.

A novel compound named as brefeldin A formylate (1), together with two known compounds, brefeldin A (2) and ergosterol (3), was isolated from the Penicillium sp. strain HLKG-44, which was isolated from polluted environment in Fujian Province. Their structures were identified based on the spectral and X-ray crystallographic analyses.

ApRab3, a biosynthetic Rab protein, accumulates on the maturing phagosomes and symbiosomes in the tropical sea anemone, Aiptasia pulchella.

Symbiosome biogenesis and function are central to the endosymbiotic interaction between symbiotic dinoflagellates and their host cnidarians. To understand these important organelles, we have been conducting studies to identify and characterize symbiosome-associated proteins of the Rab family, key regulatory components of vesicular trafficking and membrane fusion in eukaryotic cells. Our prior studies have implicated three endocytic Rab proteins in the regulation of symbiosome biogenesis.

ApRab11, a cnidarian homologue of the recycling regulatory protein Rab11, is involved in the establishment and maintenance of the Aiptasia-Symbiodinium endosymbiosis.

Endosymbiotic association of the Symbiodinium dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) with their cnidarian host cells involves an alteration in the development of the alga-enclosing phagosomes. To uncover its molecular basis, we previously investigated and established that the intracellular persistence of the zooxanthella-containing phagosomes involves specific alga-mediated interference with the expression of ApRab5 and ApRab7, two key endocytic regulatory Rab proteins, which results in the selective retention of the former on and exclusion of the later from the organelles. Here we examined the role of ApRab11, a cnidarian homologue of the key endocytic recycling regulator, Rab11, in the Aiptasia-Symbiodinium endosymbiosis.

[Important genetic etiology of infertile Chinese males: chromosome abnormality and deletion of DAZ gene copy in the AZFc region of Y chromosome].

Objective: To investigate the correlation of male infertility with abnormality of chromosomal quantity and construction and with the deletion of DAZ gene copy in the AZFc region of Y chromosome.

Methods: Included in the study were 247 azoospermic and 206 severe oligozoospermic patients, as well as 210 fertile men as controls. Multi-PCR and PCR-RFLP were used to analyze the deletion of DAZ gene copies in the AZFc region of Y chromosome.

[Construction and expression of recombinant plasmid with prostate-specific membrane antigen promoter and enhancer regulating uracil phosphoribosyltransferase gene].

Objective: To construct the recombinant expression plasmid pPSMA(EP)-UPRT including UPRT gene that is regulated by PSMA(enhancer/promoter).

Methods: By use of PCR, UPRT gene was amplified from E. coli JM109 genome.

Racial differences of lens transparency properties with aging and prevalence of age-related cataract applying a WHO classification system.

Purpose: To investigate racial differences of lens transparency properties and the prevalence of lens opacification by age.

Methods: Lenses of randomly selected Asian (1,038 Japanese and 517 Singaporeans) and Caucasian (1,045 Icelanders) subjects were evaluated for their lens transparency property (LTP). The prevalence of lens opacification was determined with a newly proposed WHO cataract classification system.

Localization of cortical cataract in subjects of diverse races and latitude.

Purpose: To compare the characteristics of early cortical cataract localization in three groups in cataract epidemiologic surveys performed in Reykjavík, Melbourne, and Singapore.

Methods: Individuals who had right eyes with an area of cortical opacity less than 20% of the pupil when dilated 7 mm or more were selected as subjects. This included 197 subjects from the Reykjavík Eye Study, 231 from the Vitamin E, Cataract, and Age-Related Maculopathy (VECAT) study in Melbourne, and 92 from the Singapore-Japan Cooperative Cataract Study, all showing early-stage cataract in pupils dilated to 7 mm or more.

[Clinical study of sildenafil in the treatment of premature ejaculation complicated by erectile dysfunction].

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of sildenafil citrate in the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE) complicated by erectile dysfunction (ED).

Methods: Forty-five patients of PE complicated by ED received flexible doses of sildenafil from 50 to 100 mg for 1 to 3 months. Intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) and sexual satisfaction ratio (SSR) of partner were recorded to evaluate the effect of PE treatment, as well as the general efficacy and satisfaction of ED treatment.

Prevalence of primary cornea guttata and morphology of corneal endothelium in aging Japanese and Singaporean subjects.

The purpose of the present study was to examine, in the aging people, racial and gender differences in the morphology of corneal endothelium as well as the incidence of cornea guttata in two Asian subject groups, one in Singapore and the other in Japan. Four hundred and sixty-five Chinese Singaporeans and 299 Japanese subjects (residents of Monzen-machi, Ishikawa Prefecture) aged 50 years and older were recruited for the study. Corneal endothelial abnormalities were diagnosed with slit-lamp biomicroscopy and specular microscopy.

High prevalence of nuclear cataract in the population of tropical and subtropical areas.

The authors have conducted cataract epidemiological studies in four climatically and racially different places and compared the data. The survey places were Noto and Amami in Japan, Reykjavik in Iceland, and Singapore. The evaluation and grading of lens opacities were done using graphic analysis of Scheimpflug and retro-illumination images.

Water diffusion in the rabbit lens in vivo.

Purpose: To examine water diffusion in the crystalline lens and sugar cataracts in the rabbits in vivo.

Materials And Methods: Water self-diffusion in the lens cortices of alloxan-diabetic and galactosemic rabbits was examined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The animals were positioned in a 4.