Determinants of Preventive Health Behavior for Hepatitis B in Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Vertical transmission from mother to child during the perinatal period is a key route of hepatitis B infection. The infection rate among children of mothers who are hepatitis B carriers is high.

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the hepatitis-B-related preventive health behavior of pregnant women and related factors.

[Multimedia Health Education on Insulin Injection Skills for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes].

Background: Multimedia health education may be applied to improve self-care behaviors in patients. However, the long-term effects of multimedia health education on insulin injection performance have been insufficiently studied.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a multimedia insulin pen-injector health education intervention on patients in terms of their insulin injection skills and glycated hemoglobin level and the time spent by nurses on insulin injection education.

Factors associated with quality of life in patients with diabetic hypoglycaemia.

Aims And Objectives: To identify determinants of quality of life among patients who had experienced hypoglycaemia and who were undergoing insulin treatment.

Background: Patients with diabetes receiving insulin treatment are at high risk for hypoglycaemia, which tends to affect their quality of life.

Design: With a cross-sectional and observational study design (see the STROBE checklist and Appendix S1).

Predictors of Self-Efficacy in Administering Insulin Injection.

This study aimed to identify the predictors of self-efficacy in administering insulin injection among patients with type 2 diabetes. Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collected via purposive sampling from a metabolic ward of a medical center in Southern Taiwan. Participants were 72 patients with type 2 diabetes, who had started using Lantus, Levemir, or Novomix pen injectors.

The Perinatal Biopsychosocial Consequences of Various Levels of Gestational Hyperglycemia.

This study was to compare biopsychosocial consequences among three groups of women with gestational hyperglycemia. We conducted a repeated-measures study at five time points among 132 women with gestational hyperglycemia. Women's physiological indicators and their psychosocial indicators were measured.

First-time fathers' health status during the perinatal period.

Background: For first-time fathers, the perinatal period is a critical period of stress and imbalance. Marital intimacy and social support may affect their stress and health status while they change their roles.

Aim: This study was to explore the changes of and correlations among marital intimacy, social support, and health status and predictors of first-time fathers' health status during the perinatal period.

The effectiveness of multimedia education for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of two types of health education on improving knowledge concerning diabetes and insulin injection, insulin injection skills and self-efficacy, satisfaction with health education and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and creatinine levels among patients with type 2 diabetes who began insulin therapy using a pen injector.

Background: Insulin therapy is recommended to facilitate the regulation of plasma glucose; however, patient's acceptance of insulin therapy is generally low. Healthcare providers should help them improve their knowledge of diabetes and insulin injection, as well as their insulin injection skills.

Predictors of Hyperglycemic Women's Perinatal Health Status.

Background: Hyperglycemic women face dramatic physiological and psychosocial changes during the perinatal period; however, studies examining hyperglycemic women's health are few, and limited to cross-sectional designs.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine changes in hyperglycemic women's stress, social support, depression, and health status from pregnancy to 1 year postpartum, and to identify factors predicting hyperglycemic women's perinatal health.

Methods: Ninety-nine participants with positive results in a 50-g glucose challenge test were recruited in a medical center in southern Taiwan.

Outcomes for type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with diverse regimens.

Aims And Objectives: To compare the levels of self-care behaviour, social support and quality of life among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who underwent three regimens: taking medicine, taking-medicine-while dieting and taking-medicine-while-dieting-with exercise.

Background: Diabetes treatment is a critical concern worldwide. However, studies on self-care behaviour, social support and quality of life based on diabetes patients' diverse regimens are few.

Defective T cell chemotaxis to sphingosine 1-phosphate and chemokine CCL21 in idiopathic T lymphocytopenia.

T cell chemotaxis to sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and the chemokines CCL21 and CCL5 was studied in ten adults with T lymphocytopenia, other immunological abnormalities (nine of ten), and frequent bacterial infections (seven of ten). Mean chemotactic responses to S1P of CD4 T cells from CD4 T lymphocytopenic patients and of CD8 T cells from CD8 T lymphocytopenic patients were significantly lower than those of healthy matched controls. Chemotaxis to CCL21 was lower than that of controls for CD4 T cells of three CD4 T lymphocytopenic patients and for CD8 T cells of three CD8 T lymphocytopenic patients, but none of the T cells of patients had diminished chemotaxis to CCL5.

VPAC1 (vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) receptor type 1) G protein-coupled receptor mediation of VIP enhancement of murine experimental colitis.

Distinct roles of the two T cell G protein-coupled receptors for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), termed VPAC1 and VPAC2, in VIP regulation of autoimmune diseases were investigated in the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced murine acute colitis model for human inflammatory bowel diseases. In mice lacking VPAC2 (VPAC2-KO), DSS-induced colitis appeared more rapidly with greater weight loss and severe histopathology than in wild-type mice. In contrast, DSS-induced colitis in VPAC1-KO mice was milder than in wild-type mice and VPAC2-KO mice.

Preferential enhancement of older human T cell cytokine generation, chemotaxis, proliferation and survival by lenalidomide.

Lenalidomide, an analog of thalidomide, modified responses of stimulated T cells from healthy young (ages 21-40 years) and old (≥ age 65 years) subjects. At 0.03 μM to 1 μM, lenalidomide enhanced generation of IL-2 and IFN-γ by T cell receptor-stimulated T cells of young subjects up to respective maximum increases of 17-fold and three-fold, but at 0.

Gender specificity of altered human immune cytokine profiles in aging.

Cytokine generation by T cells and monocytes was determined for 50 subjects aged 65 yr or older and concurrently studied young subjects individually matched to each old subject for sex, race, and national origin. Highly significant differences between cytokine levels of old and young subjects all were gender specific. For T cells stimulated with anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 antibodies, mean ratios of IFN-gamma generation for healthy old to young subjects were 0.

Human CD4- 8- T cells are a distinctive immunoregulatory subset.

Human CD4(-)8(-) T cells are a minor subset quantitatively but potentially important in immunity because they are predominantly distributed at body surfaces, and their number and activities increase in autoimmune diseases and decrease with aging. Distinguishing characteristics of CD4(-)8(-) T cells are found to include a unique profile of cytokines, including Serpin E1, which is not generated by other T cells, MIF, and TGF-beta. At 2-5% of the total in mixtures with CD4 + CD8 T cells, CD4(-)8(-) T cells enhance the generation of IFN-gamma and IL-17 by up to 12- and 5-fold, respectively, without contributing either cytokine or affecting cytokine production by NK/NKT cells.

Sphingolipid signaling and treatment during remodeling of the uninfarcted ventricular wall after myocardial infarction.

The sphingosine kinase (SphK)/sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) pathway, known to determine the fate and growth of various cell types, can enhance cardiac myocyte survival in vitro and provide cardioprotection in acute ex vivo heart preparations. However, the relevance of these findings to chronic cardiac pathology has never been demonstrated. We hypothesized that S1P signaling is impaired during chronic remodeling of the uninfarcted ventricle during the evolution of post-myocardial infarction (MI) cardiomyopathy and that a therapeutic enhancement of S1P signaling would ameliorate ventricular dysfunction.

Immunosuppressive human anti-lymphocyte autoantibodies specific for the type 1 sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor.

Anti-lymphocyte antibodies (Abs) that suppress T-cell chemotactic and other responses to sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), but not to chemokines, were found in a lymphopenic patient with recurrent infections. Lymphocyte type 1 S1P receptor (S1P(1)) that transduces S1P chemotactic stimulation was recognized by patient Abs in Western blots of T cells, S1P(1) transfectants, and S1P(1)-hemagglutinin purified by monoclonal anti-hemagglutinin Ab absorption. The amino terminus of S1P(1), but not any extracellular loop, prevented anti-S1P(1) Ab suppression of S1P(1) signaling and T-cell chemotaxis to S1P.

Characteristics and management of infectious industrial waste in Taiwan.

Infectious industrial waste management in Taiwan is based on the specific waste production unit. In other countries, management is based simply on whether the producer may lead to infectious disease. Thus, Taiwan has a more detailed classification of infectious waste.

Regulation of the roles of sphingosine 1-phosphate and its type 1 G protein-coupled receptor in T cell immunity and autoimmunity.

The lipid mediator sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and its type 1 G protein-coupled receptor (S1P1) affect mammalian immunity through alterations in thymocyte emigration, differentiation of T cell subsets, lymphocyte trafficking in lymphoid organs and other tissues, T cell-dendritic cell and T cell-B cell interactions, and cytokine generation. Recent attention to effects of the S1P-S1P1 axis on non-migration functions of lymphocytes includes delineation of a role in terminal differentiation and survival of Th17 effector cells and adaptive Treg cells of the CD4 T cell constellation, and a greater understanding of interactions of the S1P-S1P1 axis with immune cytokines in lymphocyte survival and activities. This breadth of involvement of the S1P-S1P1 axis in immune responses that often are altered in immunological diseases has provided many opportunities for novel therapeutic interventions.

Nuclear factor-kappaB-dependent reversal of aging-induced alterations in T cell cytokines.

Immunosenescence is characterized by decreases in protective immune responses and increases in inflammation and autoimmunity. The T helper (Th)17 subset of cluster-of-differentiation (CD)4 T cells, which is identified by its generation of interleukin (IL) -17, is implicated in autoimmune pathogenesis. To elucidate immunosenescent changes in Th17 cell cytokines, splenic CD4 T cells from 22- to 24-month-old (old) mice and 6- to 10-wk-old (young) mice were incubated on anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 (anti-T cell antigen receptor) antibodies.

Quality of life and its predictors for middle-aged and elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of life, and its predictors among middle-aged and elderly patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. 131 participants of age 40 or above were recruited from an outpatients department in one medical center in southern Taiwan. The study had a cross-sectional design; each participant was administered structured questionnaires, including the Diabetes Self-Care Behavior Scale, the Social Support Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF).

Mass transfer of VOCs in laboratory-scale air sparging tank.

Volatilization of VOCs was investigated using a 55-gal laboratory-scale model in which air sparging experiments were conducted with a vertical air injection well. In addition, X-ray imaging of an air sparging sand box showed air flows were in the form of air bubbles or channels depending on the size of the porous media. Air-water mass transfer was quantified using the air-water mass transfer coefficient which was determined by fitting the experimental data to a two-zone model.

Th17 augmentation in OTII TCR plus T cell-selective type 1 sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor double transgenic mice.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) in blood and lymph controls lymphoid traffic and tissue migration of T cells through signals from the type 1 S1PR (S1P(1)), but less is known of effects of the S1P-S1P(1) axis on nonmigration functions of T cells. CD4 T cells from a double transgenic (DTG) mouse express OTII TCRs specific for OVA peptide 323-339 (OVA) and a high level of transgenic S1P(1), resistant to suppression by T cell activation. OVA-activated DTG CD4 T cells respond as expected to S1P by chemotactic migration and reduction in secretion of IFN-gamma.

Cutting edge: Alternative signaling of Th17 cell development by sphingosine 1-phosphate.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) in blood and lymph controls T cell traffic and proliferation through type 1 S1P receptor (S1P(1)) signals, but suppression of IFN-gamma generation has been the only consistently observed effect on T cell cytokines. The fact that S1P enhances the development of Th17 cells from Ag-challenged transgenic S1P(1)-overexpressing CD4 T cells suggested that the S1P-S1P(1) axis may promote the expansion of Th17 cells in wild-type mice. In a model of Th17 cell development from CD4 T cells stimulated by anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 Abs and a mixture of TGF-beta1, IL-1, and IL-6, S1P enhanced their number and IL-17-generating activity the same as IL-23.

Type 1 sphingosine 1-phosphate G protein-coupled receptor (S1P1) mediation of enhanced IL-4 generation by CD4 T cells from S1P1 transgenic mice.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a natural lipid mediator that regulates immune cell traffic, Ab production, and T cell cytokine generation by mechanisms that enhance Th2 activities. Responses to S1P are controlled principally by the diverse expression patterns of its receptors in different cells. In T cells, the type 1 (S1P(1)) and type 4 (S1P(4)) G protein-coupled receptors are predominant.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate as an intracellular messenger and extracellular mediator in immunity.

Unlabelled: The omnific mediator system composed of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and its five G-protein-coupled receptors, designated S1P(1)-S1P(5), affects diverse cellular functions in the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular and immune systems. The many activities of the S1P-S1P(1) axis, which predominates in the cardiovascular and immune systems, have previously been classified according to their relationship with the distinct functional roles of each type of cell or according to their most frequently used signalling pathways. In the immune system, cell surface S1P(1) receptors transduce the rapid, transient effects of extracellular S1P on T- and B-lymphocyte trafficking in the lymphoid system, lymphocyte migration in non-immune tissues and cytokine generation.