Adherence to Nutritional Practice Guideline in Premature Infants: A Nationwide Survey in Taiwan.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the current neonatal nutritional practices in Taiwan and promote consensus on standardized protocols.

Methods: An online questionnaire comprising 95 items on parenteral nutrition (PN) and enteral nutrition (EN) practices was distributed to neonatal care units across Taiwan via email between August and December 2022. The responses were compared with the recommendations from the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition for preterm infant care.

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Infant Movement Classification: A Reliability and Validity Study in Infants Who Were Full-Term and Preterm.

Objective: Preterm infants are at high risk of neuromotor disorders. Recent advances in digital technology and machine learning algorithms have enabled the tracking and recognition of anatomical key points of the human body. It remains unclear whether the proposed pose estimation model and the skeleton-based action recognition model for adult movement classification are applicable and accurate for infant motor assessment.

The chaperone BiP promotes dengue virus replication and mosquito vitellogenesis in Aedes aegypti.

Binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP, also known as GRP78), a chaperone and master regulator of the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, plays an essential role in several flavivirus infections, but its functional role in regulating dengue virus replication in the mosquito remains largely unknown. We here demonstrated the interaction between a dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV2) and BiP in Aedes aegypti and report the discovery of a novel functional role of BiP in mosquito vitellogenesis. Silencing Ae.

Alteration in branching morphogenesis via YAP/TAZ in fibroblasts of fetal lungs in an LPS-induced inflammation model.

Background: Chorioamnionitis is a common cause of preterm birth and leads to serious complications in newborns. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of the Hippo signaling pathway in lung branching morphogenesis under a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation model.

Materials And Methods: IMR-90 cells and ex vivo fetal lungs were treated with 0, 10, 30, or 50 μg/ml LPS for 24 and 72 h.

Sodium Glycerophosphate Use in Parenteral Nutrition Improves Mineral Metabolism in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of sodium glycerophosphate (NaGP) in parenteral nutrition solutions on mineral metabolism in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants.

Study Design: NaGP was introduced for use in place of potassium phosphate (KPO) in January 2018; this retrospective cohort study included 95 ELBW infants treated with KPO between January 2015 and December 2017 and 77 infants treated with NaGP between August 2018 and January 2021. Mineral intake over the first 14 days; changes in serum calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels over the first 1-3 months; and the rates of electrolyte imbalance and clinical morbidity were compared.

Microrna-486-5P Regulates Human Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell Migration via Endothelin-1.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal or life-threatening disorder characterized by elevated pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. Abnormal vascular remodeling, including the proliferation and phenotypic modulation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), represents the most critical pathological change during PAH development. Previous studies showed that miR-486 could reduce apoptosis in different cells; however, the role of miR-486 in PAH development or HPASMC proliferation and migration remains unclear.

Reducing intraventricular hemorrhage following the implementation of a prevention bundle for neonatal hypothermia.

Introduction: In very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, hypothermia immediately following birth is common even in countries rich in medical resources. The purpose of this study is to design a standard prevention bundle that decreases the rate of hypothermia among infants after birth and to investigate efficacy of the bundle and short-term outcomes for VLBW infants.

Methods: This quality improvement project was conducted from February 2017 to July 2018 on all VLBW preterm infants admitted at a single referral level III neonatal intensive care unit.

Cognitive and motor development in preterm children from 6 to 36 months of age: Trajectories, risk factors and predictability.

Background: Although numerous studies have examined the development of preterm children born very low birth weight (VLBW, birth body weight < 1500 g), variations of developmental progress within individuals have rarely been explored. The aim of this research was to examine the cognitive and motor trajectories in preterm children born VLBW at early ages and to assess the risk factors and predictability of these trajectories.

Method: Five hundred and eighty preterm infants born VLBW from three cohort studies (2003 to 2014) were prospectively assessed their mental and motor development using the Bayley Scales at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, and cognitive, motor and behavioral outcomes using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children and the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.

Prognostic determinants of hearing outcomes in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the most prevalent cause of non-genetic sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in children. However, the prognostic determinants of SNHL remain unclear. Children with cCMV infection in a tertiary hospital were enrolled.

Validation of the Postnatal Growth and Retinopathy of Prematurity Screening Criteria in a Taiwanese Cohort.

Purpose: To validate the performance of Postnatal Growth and Retinopathy of Prematurity (G-ROP) screening criteria in a Taiwanese cohort.

Design: Screening evaluation with retrospective data.

Method: Premature infants who underwent retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening between January 2015 and April 2019 at a tertiary hospital were examined.

Identifying distinct oxygen diffusivity through type I pneumocyte-like cell layers using microfluidic device.

Oxygen is necessary for cellular respiration in aerobic organisms. In animals, such as human, inhaled oxygen moves from the alveoli to the blood through alveolar epithelium into pulmonary capillaries. Up to now, different studies have been reported to examine experimental oxygen diffusivity for simple membrane or single-celled organisms; however, devices capable of precisely characterizing oxygen transportation through cell layers with dimensions similar to their physiological ones have not been developed.

Intentional endometrial injury enhances angiogenesis through increased production and activation of MMP-9 by TNF-α and MMP-3 in a mouse model.

There have been reports of improved pregnancy rates after performing intentional endometrial injuries, also known as endometrial scratching, in patients with recurrent implantation failure. In our previous study on intentional endometrial injury, we found an increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 following induced injuries to the mice endometrium. In the current study, we further examine whether the rise in MMP-3 could contribute to increased angiogenesis.

Blood glucose promotes dengue virus infection in the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Background: Dengue fever is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease globally. More than 2.5 billion people live in dengue-endemic areas.

The prevalence and demographic features of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in an urban area of East Asia: A population-based study.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the leading environmental cause of childhood hearing impairment. However, its significance remains largely undocumented in many regions of the world. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical features of cCMV infection in East Asia.

Association between short-term exposure to air pollution and sudden infant death syndrome.

The association between air pollution and infant mortality has been inconsistently reported. A few studies have estimated short-term effects of air pollution on infants' health. This population-based case-control study aimed to examine the potential effects of air pollution on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the post-neonatal period in Taiwan during 1997-2002.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes after Bevacizumab Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity: A Meta-analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate neurodevelopmental outcomes after intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) therapy in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) infants compared with those not exposed to IVB.

Clinical Relevance: The primary concern regarding IVB treatment of ROP is the potential systemic side effects, especially the risk of causing severe neurodevelopmental impairment (sNDI). Results regarding neurodevelopmental outcomes after IVB therapy are conflicting.

Hypophosphatemia as an Early Metabolic Bone Disease Marker in Extremely Low-Birth-Weight Infants After Prolonged Parenteral Nutrition Exposure.

Background: Early metabolic bone disease (MBD) detection is important in preterm infants to decrease long-term consequence. We aim to explore the early MBD biochemical marker in extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 95 preterm infants born in a tertiary care-level neonatal intensive care unit between January 2015 and June 2018, with birth weight <1000 g.

Fibroblast-enriched endoplasmic reticulum protein TXNDC5 promotes pulmonary fibrosis by augmenting TGFβ signaling through TGFBR1 stabilization.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a major public health problem with limited therapeutic options. There is a clear need to identify novel mediators of PF to develop effective therapeutics. Here we show that an ER protein disulfide isomerase, thioredoxin domain containing 5 (TXNDC5), is highly upregulated in the lung tissues from both patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a mouse model of bleomycin (BLM)-induced PF.