Evidence that DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferase regulates synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus.

DNA (cytosine-5) methylation represents one of the most widely used mechanisms of enduring cellular memory. Stable patterns of DNA methylation are established during development, resulting in creation of persisting cellular phenotypes. There is growing evidence that the nervous system has co-opted a number of cellular mechanisms used during development to subserve the formation of long term memory.

Nurses' perceptions of severe acute respiratory syndrome: relationship between commitment and intention to leave nursing.

Aims: This paper reports a study which aimed to: (1) investigate the relationship between nurses' commitment to the nursing profession and organization and their intention to leave; (2) investigate nurses' perceptions of the possibility of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome infection and its moderation of their commitment to the nursing profession and the organization and their consequent intentions to leave the profession and the organization following the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.

Background: The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 resulted in a fatality rate of approximately 11%. Nurses in hospitals caring for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome maintained close contact with the infected patients.

Multidrug resistance among different serotypes of clinical Salmonella isolates in Taiwan.

Of the 798 clinical Salmonella isolates collected from multiple hospitals in Taiwan, resistance to ampicillin (48.5%), chloramphenicol (55.3%), streptomycin (59.

The relationship of excess body weight and health-related quality of life: evidence from a population study in Taiwan.

Objective: Excess body weight is related to significant morbidity and mortality. However, less is known about the relationship of body weight to health-related quality of life (HRQOL), especially for Asian populations. We examined the relationship of excess weight and HRQOL in a general population sample from Taiwan.

Comparative analysis of follicle morphology and oocyte diameter in four mammalian species (mouse, hamster, pig, and human).

Background: Laboratory animals are commonly used for evaluating the physiological properties of the mammalian ovarian follicle and the enclosed oocyte. The use of different species to determine the morphological relationship between the follicle and oocyte has led to a recognizable pattern of follicular stages, but differences in follicle size, oocyte diameter and granulosa cell proliferation are not consistent across the different species. In an effort to better understand how these differences are expressed across multiple species, this investigation evaluates oocyte and follicle diameters and granulosa cell proliferation in the mouse, hamster, pig, and human.

Human seminal plasma nitric oxide: correlation with sperm morphology and testosterone.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate levels of Nitric Oxide (NO) and testosterone (T) in seminal plasma of men with normal and abnormal semen analysis (SA), and determine if correlations between seminal plasma NO, T and sperm quality exists.

Material/methods: Subjects consisted of 9 men with a normal SA and 24 men with abnormality of at least one parameter in the SA. Seminal plasma NO was analyzed using chemiluminescence, and testosterone by immunoassay.

Endometriosis associated with hemothorax.

Bloody pleural effusion is rarely associated with endometriosis. To effectively treat this condition, it is important to differentiate the malady from other common diseases such as malignancy or tuberculosis. We describe the case of a 40-year-old multiparous female featuring right-sided hemothorax presenting with right shoulder pain and progressive shortness of breath for the preceding 2 months.

Do the SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF measure the same constructs? Evidence from the Taiwan population*.

Background: The SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF are available for international use, but it is not clear if they measure the same constructs. We compared the psychometric properties and factor structures of these two instruments.

Methods: Data were collected from a national representative sample (n=11,440) in the 2001 Taiwan National Health Interview Survey, which included Taiwan versions of the SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF.

SARS coronavirus, but not human coronavirus NL63, utilizes cathepsin L to infect ACE2-expressing cells.

Viruses require specific cellular receptors to infect their target cells. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a cellular receptor for two divergent coronaviruses, SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63). In addition to hostcell receptors, lysosomal cysteine proteases are required for productive infection by some viruses.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Taiwan.

We found a virulent closely related clone (Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive, SCCmec V:ST59) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in inpatients and outpatients in Taiwan. The isolates were found mostly in wounds but were also detected in blood, ear, respiratory, and other specimens; all were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

Maternal plasma adiponectin concentrations at 24 to 31 weeks of gestation: negative association with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objective: Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived hormone with antidiabetic, antiatherosclerotic, and antiinflammatory properties. This study investigated the relations between maternal adiponectin concentration and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and other metabolic parameters during midpregnancy.

Methods: Two-hour 75-g oral glucose tolerance tests were performed in 253 pregnant women at 24 to 31 wk of gestation.

The role of Helicobacter pylori infection in children with acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura.

The outcome of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is classified as acute or chronic depending on whether platelet count returns to normal. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection increases with age and is independent of gender. We investigated the prevalence of H.

High carriage rate of high-level penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in a Taiwan kindergarten associated with a case of pneumococcal meningitis.

Background: The Taiwan19F-14 Streptococcus pneumoniae clone and its variants are being found with increasing frequency in the Asia-Pacific region. A 5-year old child with S. pneumoniae meningitis caused by a high-level penicillin resistant strain (MIC = 4 microg/ml) was admitted to a hospital in southern Taiwan.

Creating a crosswalk to estimate AIDS Clinical Trials Group quality of life scores in a nationally representative sample of persons in care for HIV in the United States.

Background: Optimizing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an increasingly important goal in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Interpretation of HRQOL scores in clinical trials is enhanced by comparative data.

Purpose: To estimate AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) QOL 601-602 questionnaire scale scores for a nationally representative sample of persons in care for HIV.

Comparison of maturation, meiotic competence, and chromosome aneuploidy of oocytes derived from two protocols for in vitro culture of mouse secondary follicles.

Purpose: To compare maturation rates of mouse preantral follicles cultured using two previously reported follicle in vitro follicle culture protocols, and to compare the aneuploidy of oocytes derived from the two protocols with in vivo-matured control oocytes.

Methods: Mouse preantral follicles were either mechanically isolated then cultured in individual microdroplets, or enzymatically isolated and cultured in groups in a modified culture medium. Maturation of the follicles/oocytes and resulting oocyte aneuploidy rates were evaluated and compared.

The acceptability of posthumous human ovarian tissue donation in Utah.

Background: Infertility due to accelerated loss of ovarian follicles/oocytes may occur through numerous mechanisms. As a result, posthumous human oocyte donation, banking and maturation protocols for research and fertility restoration are current interests in reproductive medicine.

Methods: A computer-generated sample of Utah residents (n = 704) were surveyed regarding demographics, willingness to donate organs, IVF acceptability and posthumous follicle/oocyte donation for: research, fertilization with monitoring to the preembryo stage (eight cells), and fertilization and subsequent transfer of embryos derived from themselves, their partner or non-spousal relative for whom they act as guardian.

Analyses of benzophenones by capillary electrochromatography using methacrylate ester-based monolithic columns.

In this study, eight benzophenones, which are commonly used as UV filters in various cosmetics and plastics, were analyzed by capillary electrochromatography with a methacrylate ester-based monolithic column. The effects of the composition and pH of mobile phase, porogenic solvent ratio, and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) content on benzophenone separations were examined. For all benzophenones, separation performances were markedly improved in monolithic columns with larger 1-propanol ratio and higher AMPS content.

A programmable prompting device improves adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected subjects with memory impairment.

Background. Patients cite "forgetting" as a reason for nonadherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We measured the effect of a memory-prompting device on adherence to HAART in memory-intact and memory-impaired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects.

Starting position and stretching velocity effects on the reflex threshold angle of stretch reflex in the soleus muscle of normal and spastic subjects.

Background And Purpose: Although both starting position and stretching velocity play an important role in reflex response, their interaction with stretch reflexes has not been thoroughly investigated. This study examined the interaction effect of starting position and stretching velocity on the reflex threshold angle (RTA) of the stretch reflex in the soleus muscle of normal and spastic subjects.

Methods: The spastic group included 11 ankles from 7 subjects with a history of upper motor neuron lesions.

Etiology of community acquired pneumonia among adult patients requiring hospitalization in Taiwan.

Background: There has not been a comprehensive multi-center study investigating the microbial profile of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Taiwan.

Methods: A prospective study of adult CAP patients requiring hospitalization between December 2001 and April 2002 was carried out in 13 hospitals in Taiwan. Etiology was determined based on laboratory data from blood and sputum cultures plus serology from paired serum and urine antigen detection tests.

Prolonged fever and pyuria: a urinary tract infection presentation of incomplete Kawasaki disease.

Unlabelled: We report two patients with incomplete Kawasaki disease that presented as apparent urinary tract infection. Persistent fever and pyuria were the initial presentation without concomitant signs suggestive of Kawasaki disease; thus the patients were treated as urinary tract infection. Fever persisted despite antibiotic treatment.

Anterolateral thigh flaps for reconstruction of head and neck defects.

Purpose: This article presents our clinical experience with head and neck reconstruction using a free anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap and describes the morbidity of the donor site.

Materials And Methods: From October 2001 to October 2003, 20 free ALT flaps were transferred for reconstructing soft tissue defects of the head and neck. The age and gender of the patients, the site of the primary tumor, tumor stage, previous operative condition, types of associated operation, results of flap transfer, donor site morbidity, and clinical course were analyzed.

Comparison of deltopectoralis flap and free radial forearm flap in reconstruction after oral cancer ablation.

Defects in the head and neck resulting from ablation of oral cancer frequently lead to disabling functional and cosmetic deformities. Rehabilitation of patients with oral cancer can be an emotionally and technically challenging endeavor. Selection of the donor tissue is clearly dependent upon the defect that is to be reconstructed.

Outbreak of dysentery associated with ceftriaxone-resistant Shigella sonnei: First report of plasmid-mediated CMY-2-type AmpC beta-lactamase resistance in S. sonnei.

We document the first report of plasmid-encoded CMY-2-type AmpC beta-lactamase identified among Shigella sonnei isolates resistant to ceftriaxone and obtained after an outbreak of bacillary dysentery in Taiwan. One hundred eighty-two children in two elementary schools in Yu-Li, Taiwan, where an outbreak occurred after a typhoon hit this area in 2001, were enrolled in this study. Clinical and epidemiologic data on the infected children were collected.

Comparison of four media types during 3-day human IVF embryo culture.

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of human tubal fluid (HTF), G1.2, Sage Cleavage and Life Global media for IVF outcome during 3-day culture of human embryos. A three-phase auto-controlled study was conducted in which IVF outcome was compared between (1) HTF and G1.