Bodily pain and vitality are the key factors in the disability of chronic low back pain patients under Short Form 36 base study: a five-year cohort study.

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP), a significant cause of disability, is expected to increase with aging. Short Form 36 (SF-36) indicated higher baseline component scores predict CLBP disability at shorter follow-ups, with unexplored five-year associations. The study aimed to test the associations of the physical and mental subscales of the SF-36 at baseline with disability at the five-year follow-up point among patients with CLBP.

Correlation Analyses Between Childhood Behavioral Disturbance and Maternal Alexithymia: An Observational Study.

Purpose: Caregivers' responses have an impact on children's emotional and behavioral development. The inability of caregivers to perceive their own emotions affects their responses to children. This study aims to examine the relationship between a mother's difficulties in emotional expression and children's emotional and behavioral disorders.

Fecal carriage of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli by community children in southern Taiwan.

Background: The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli (E. coli), particularly E. coli sequence type ST131, is becoming a global concern.

Acute left-arm compartment syndrome due to cephalic arch stenosis in a dialysis patient.

Acute compartment syndrome of the upper limb due to dialysis access-related bleeding is a rare and severe complication of hemodialysis. In most reported cases, this complication is caused by an enlarging hematoma after puncture or perforation of a fistula in combination with the use of heparin. In this case report, we describe a 52-year-old woman presenting with venous hypertension and left-arm swelling that progressed suddenly on the fifth day of presentation to neurological deficits, cyanotic skin changes, and typical clinical symptoms of acute arm compartment syndrome.

Clinical manifestations of nontyphoid salmonellosis in children younger than 2 years old--experiences of a tertiary hospital in southern Taiwan.

Background: Few published studies have explored the clinical manifestations of nontyphoid salmonellosis in children <2 years of age. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical manifestations, microbiological features, complications, fecal excretion time, and responses to treatment in children <2 years of age with nontyphoid salmonellosis.

Methods: Between January 2005 and December 2009, pediatric patients who were admitted to Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital with positive cultures for nontyphoid Salmonella were enrolled.

Effects of flow rate on delivery of bubble continuous positive airway pressure in an in vitro model.

Background: There has been concern over the effect of vigorous bubbling on the delivery pressure during the operation of the bubble nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) system. We investigated the relationship between intra-tubing pressure changes and flow rates in a closed bubble CPAP system in vitro.

Methods: Using an experimental (in vitro) model, the distal connecting tube of the CPAP system was immersed under the water seal to a depth of 5 cm.

Effects of statin therapy in children complicated with coronary arterial abnormality late after Kawasaki disease: a pilot study.

Background: Ongoing low-grade inflammation and endothelial dysfunction persist in patients late after Kawasaki disease (KD). Statins not only reduce cholesterol, but also improve surrogate markers of atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction, but their effects for children late after KD complicated with coronary arterial abnormality (CAA) has not been evaluated.

Methods And Results: The 11 KD children complicated with CAA (mean age 12.

Serotype and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from Taiwanese children: comparison of nasopharyngeal and clinical isolates.

This report describes the serotypes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of 860 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from nasopharyngeal (NP) carriers and clinical specimens collected from Taiwanese children during the years 1997 to 2003. The 6 most common serotypes/groups were 23F, 19F, 6B, 14, 6A, and 3. These accounted for 652/716 (91.

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.

Nontyphoid salmonellosis in taiwan children: clinical manifestations, outcome and antibiotic resistance.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to investigate the epidemiologic, clinical, and microbiologic features of patients with nontyphoid salmonellosis and to elucidate the impact of resistance on the outcome of nontyphoid salmonellosis in Taiwan. The authors also sought to develop a severity score to derive an objective guideline for antibiotic use in nontyphoid salmonellosis in the era of increasing antibiotic resistance.

Methods: The authors prospectively monitored 311 children with nontyphoid salmonellosis in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.