Association of baseline core volume and early midline shift in acute stroke patients with a large ischaemic core.

Background: Midline shift (MLS) is troublesome problem that may occur in patients with a large infarct core (LIC) and may be related to the baseline infarct core volume. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between baseline infarct core volume and early MLS presence.

Materials And Methods: Patients with acute intracranial large artery occlusion and a pretreatment relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) <30% volume ≥50 ml on CT perfusion (CTP) were included, clinical outcomes following endovascular treatment (EVT) were retrospectively analyzed.

The parental experience of participating in surgical decision-making regarding one's child with a congenital heart disease in Taiwan.

Purpose: This study explores how parents experienced the surgical decision-making process for their child with a congenital heart disease (CHD).

Design And Methods: Purposive sampling was used in this qualitative descriptive study at a medical center in Northern Taiwan. Twelve parents whose children had cardiac corrective surgery participated in one-to-one in-depth interviews.

Surveillance of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Taiwan, 2008-2019.

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a major contributor to global cases of antimicrobial resistance and remains a public health challenge. To understand the extent and trend of DR-TB under an enhanced multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) management program, we conducted a population-based retrospective study of 1511 Taiwanese MDR-TB cases reported from 2008 to 2019.

Methods: We obtained patient demographics and clinical and bacteriological information from the National TB Registry and the Infectious Disease Notification System.

A study of correlations between metabolic syndrome factors and osteosarcopenic adiposity.

Background: Aging reduces the quality and strength of bones and muscles and increases body fat, which can lead to the simultaneous occurrence of sarcopenia, osteopenia, and adiposity, a condition referred to as OsteoSarcopenic Adiposity (OSA). While previous studies have demonstrated that metabolic syndrome is associated with sarcopenia, osteopenia, and adiposity, the relationship between metabolic syndrome and OSA remains largely unknown.

Methods: We analyzed data for a sample of middle-aged individuals from a Health Management Center database, which was collected in 2016-2018.

Bedaquiline Drug Resistance Emergence Assessment in Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB): a 5-Year Prospective Surveillance Study of Bedaquiline and Other Second-Line Drug Susceptibility Testing in MDR-TB Isolates.

Bedaquiline Drug Resistance Emergence Assessment in Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) (DREAM) was a 5-year (2015 to 2019) phenotypic drug resistance surveillance study across 11 countries. DREAM assessed the susceptibility of 5,036 MDR-TB isolates of bedaquiline treatment-naive patients to bedaquiline and other antituberculosis drugs by the 7H9 broth microdilution (BMD) and 7H10/7H11 agar dilution (AD) MIC methods. Bedaquiline AD MIC quality control (QC) range for the H37Rv reference strain was unchanged, but the BMD MIC QC range (0.

Impact of universal drug susceptibility testing and effective management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Taiwan.

Background: The treatment outcomes of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients in the 1990s in Taiwan was not satisfactory. To strengthen programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis (PMDT), Taiwan MDR-TB Consortium (TMTC) was established in 2007. We assess the performance and epidemiologic impact of TMTC.

Expression of vimentin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its possible molecular mechanism: A study based on immunohistochemistry and bioinformatics analysis.

Background: Although previous researchers have analyzed the expression level of vimentin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), the sample size of each study was too small, and there was no further in-depth study utilizing microarray and RNA-sequencing data. More importantly, the role and molecular mechanism of vimentin in NPC have not yet been addressed comprehensively. Accordingly, the aim of the present research was to conduct a full exploration of the clinical significance of vimentin in NPC in a large sample size.

Susceptibilities of MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates to unconventional drugs compared with their reported pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters.

Background: The second-line drugs recommended to treat drug-resistant TB are toxic, expensive and difficult to procure. Given increasing resistance, the need for additional anti-TB drugs has become more urgent. But new drugs take time to develop and are expensive.

Application of the CellDetect® staining technique in diagnosis of human cervical cancer.

Background: CellDetect® staining technique is a newly invented technique for cancer diagnosis. It easily distinguishes between normal and neoplastic cells including pre-cancer and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells, based on staining color and morphology. In this study, application of CellDetect® staining technique was assessed in diagnosis of human cervical cancer as compared with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining in conventional slides and Thinprep cytologic test (TCT) smears.

Molecular detection of rifabutin-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Rapid assays are still needed to detect rifabutin (RFB) susceptibility for proper tuberculosis treatment. To assess the use of the GenoType MTBDRplus assay and subsequent rpoB gene sequencing on detection of RFB susceptibility, we analyzed 800 multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, and 13% (104/800) were RFB susceptible. Of the 104 RFB-susceptible isolates, 71 (68.

Performance assessment of the GenoType MTBDRsl test and DNA sequencing for detection of second-line and ethambutol drug resistance among patients infected with multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The GenoType MTBDRsl test and DNA sequencing were used to rapidly detect second-line drug- and ethambutol (EMB)-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The ability of these two assays to detect the presence of mutations associated with resistance to fluoroquinolones (FLQ), aminoglycosides/cyclic peptide (AG/CP), and EMB in the gyrA, rrs, and embB genes (for the GenoType MTBDRsl test) and gyrA, gyrB, rrs, eis, embC, embA, embB, and embR genes (for DNA sequencing) was compared to that of conventional agar proportion drug susceptibility testing (DST). We evaluated 234 multidrug-resistant (MDR) M.

Characteristics of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Taiwan: a population-based study.

A population-based study was performed to characterize the genotype and drug-resistant patterns of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Taiwan. From 2007 to 2008, we analyzed 494 MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates using spacer oligonucleotide typing and drug susceptibility testing. The majority of cases occurred in the age groups of 45-54 (24.

Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, Taiwan.

Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, Taiwan

Mutational and inhibitive analysis of SARS coronavirus 3C-like protease by fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based assays.

The 3C-like protease (3CL(pro)) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) plays key roles in viral replication and is an attractive target for anti-SARS drug discovery. In this report, a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based method was developed to assess the proteolytic activity of SARS-CoV 3CL(pro). Two internally quenched fluorogenic peptides, 1NC and 2NC, corresponding to the N-terminal and the C-terminal autocleavage sites of SARS-CoV 3CL(pro), respectively, were used as substrates.