Improving visual memory, attention, and school function with atomoxetine in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: Atomoxetine is efficacious in reducing symptoms of attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but its effect on visual memory and attention needs more investigation. This study aimed to assess the effect of atomoxetine on visual memory, attention, and school function in boys with ADHD in Taiwan.

Method: This was an open-label 12 week atomoxetine treatment trial among 30 drug-naíve boys with ADHD, aged 8-16 years.

Efficient derivation and concise gene expression profiling of human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal progenitors (EMPs).

New potential sources of stem cells for clinical application include bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs), human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). However, each source is not without its own concerns. While research continues in an effort to overcome these problems, the generation of mesenchymal progenitors from existing hESC lines may circumvent many of these issues.

Executive functions as endophenotypes in ADHD: evidence from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB).

Background: Little is known about executive functions among unaffected siblings of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and there is lack of such information from non-Western countries. We examined verbal and nonverbal executive functions in adolescents with ADHD, unaffected siblings and controls to test whether executive functions could be potential endophenotypes for ADHD.

Methods: We assessed 279 adolescents (age range: 11-17 years) with a childhood diagnosis of DSM-IV ADHD, 136 biological siblings (108 unaffected, 79.

Sleep problems and disorders among adolescents with persistent and subthreshold attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders.

Study Objectives: To investigate the sleep schedules, problems, and disorders among adolescents with persistent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and those with partially remitted ADHD symptoms.

Design: A case-control study.

Setting: National Taiwan University and schools in Taipei Patients or Participants: The sample included 281 adolescents (male, 85.

Spinal epidural abscess due to Staphylococcus aureus: clinical manifestations and outcomes.

Background And Purpose: Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, spinal epidural abscess due to Staphylococcus aureus remains a challenge to clinicians. In this study, we describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients with spinal epidural abscess due to S. aureus.

Clinical manifestations and quantitative analysis of virus load in Taiwanese children with Epstein-Barr virus-associated infectious mononucleosis.

Background And Purpose: To delineate the clinical manifestations in different age groups and to define the viral load in patients with Epstein-Barr virus-associated infectious mononucleosis (EBV-associated IM).

Methods: We reviewed data on 69 children with EBV-associated IM from November 2001 to October 2005. Clinical features were evaluated among four age groups: <3 years, 3 to 5 years, 6 to 9 years and 10 to 18 years.

Association between sleep problems and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in young adults.

Study Objective: To examine the association between sleep-related problems and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a community sample of young adults in Taiwan.

Design: A college-based cross-sectional survey.

Participants: Two thousand two hundred eighty-four first-year college students (aged 18-20) in a university in Taiwan.

Distinct gene expression profiles in gastric epithelial cells induced by different clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori--implication of bacteria and host interaction in gastric carcinogenesis.

Background/aims: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a major risk factor of peptic ulcer, gastric cancer, and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. The interplay between H.

An open-label, randomized, active-controlled equivalent trial of osmotic release oral system methylphenidate in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Taiwan.

This study examined the efficacy and safety of osmotic release oral system methylphenidate (OROS MPH) as compared with immediate-release MPH (IR MPH) in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Taiwan. Sixty-four children with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) ADHD, ages 6-15 years, were randomized to OROS MPH once daily (n = 32) and IR MPH three times daily (n = 32) in an open, randomized, active-controlled equivalent 28-day trial. The main outcome measures included the Conner's Teacher Rating Scale -Revised: Short Form and Conner's Parent Rating Scale-Revised: Short Form, and other measures of social adjustment and side effects.

Determination of tannin in green tea infusion by flow-injection analysis based on quenching the fluorescence of 3-aminophthalate.

A flow-injection analytical system was developed to determine tannin content in green tea infusions. The flow-injection system is based on measuring the quenching effect of tannin on the fluorescence of 3-aminophthalate. Fluorophore was obtained by auto-oxidation of luminol during solution preparation.

Surgical lung biopsy for diffuse pulmonary disease: experience of 196 patients.

Objective: Surgical lung biopsy is considered the final method of diagnostic modality in patients with undiagnosed diffuse pulmonary disease. Nevertheless, the effect of surgical lung biopsy on the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome of the patient still remains controversial. This study reviewed the experiences of surgical lung biopsies in 196 consecutive patients during the past 7 years.

Recurrent herpetic keratouveitis following YAG laser peripheral iridotomy.

Objective: To report recurrent herpetic keratouveitis following YAG laser peripheral iridotomy.

Methods: Case report.

Results: A 64-year-old woman with a history of dendritic keratitis underwent Nd:YAG laser peripheral iridotomy and developed geographic epithelial keratitis with stromal keratouveitis.

Age is a better predictor of pregnancy potential than basal follicle-stimulating hormone levels in women undergoing in vitro fertilization.

Objective: To analyze to what extent the parameters of ovarian functional reserve including female age and basal FSH levels will affect the results of ovarian hyperstimulation and IVF outcome.

Design: Retrospective cohort study. University hospital infertility center.

The effect of high and low frequency electroacupuncture in pain after lower abdominal surgery.

In the present study, we examined the effects of preoperative electroacupuncture (EA) at classical bilateral acupuncture points (Zusanli, also known as ST-36) on postoperative pain and opioid-related side effects. One hundred healthy consenting women undergoing lower abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to four treatment regimens: Group I (n=25), control; Group II (n=25), sham-EA (needle insertion without electrical stimulation); Group III (n=25), low-EA (2 Hz of electrical stimulation); and Group IV (n=25), high-EA (100 Hz of electrical stimulation). EA groups received needle insertion with or without electrical stimulation 20 min prior to anesthesia.

Association of polymorphisms of interleukin-1 beta gene and Helicobacter pylori infection with the risk of gastric ulcer.

Background/aims: Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) plays an important role in gastric inflammation and physiology. Functional polymorphisms of IL-1 beta gene have been related to different risks of gastric cancer and duodenal ulcer but their role in gastric ulcer remains unknown. In this study, we investigate a plausible association between gastric ulcer and the polymorphisms in the IL-1 beta and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RN) genes.

Umbilical venous line related pericardial effusion in a premature neonate: report of a case.

Cardiac tamponade occurs very rarely, but is life-threatening in the newborn. This paper reports a premature newborn who developed profound shock 25 hours after undergoing umbilical venous catheterization. Echocardiography taken later, showed marked pericardial effusion.

Human chorionic gonadotropin pattern in maternal circulation. Amniotic fluid and fetal circulation in late pregnancy.

This study had two purposes. One was to investigate the placental gradients and the relationship of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) concentrations in maternal serum (MS), amniotic fluid (AF) and fetal serum (FS). The other was to study the fetal sex effect.