Usefulness of desaturation index for the assessment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) can result in learning, behavioral, and even growth problems in children. Overnight polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of OSAS, but this diagnostic technique is time consuming and inconvenient. It is well documented that patients with OSAS experience oxygen desaturation during sleep.

Sex differences of oxidative stress to cholestatic liver and kidney injury in young rats.

Background: Sexual dimorphism plays a role in the liver and in renal injuries. However, whether sex is a risk factor in bile duct ligation (BDL) in young rats has never been examined.

Methods: Six male and six female rats treated with BDL were sacrificed 2 weeks after surgery and were designated as BDL-M and BDL-F groups.

Neurosensory mechanotransduction through acid-sensing ion channels.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are voltage-insensitive cation channels responding to extracellular acidification. ASIC proteins have two transmembrane domains and a large extracellular domain. The molecular topology of ASICs is similar to that of the mechanosensory abnormality 4- or 10-proteins expressed in touch receptor neurons and involved in neurosensory mechanotransduction in nematodes.

A novel SCN9A mutation responsible for primary erythromelalgia and is resistant to the treatment of sodium channel blockers.

Primary erythromelalgia (PE) is an autosomal dominant neurological disorder characterized by severe burning pain and erythema in the extremities upon heat stimuli or exercise. Mutations in human SCN9A gene, encoding the α-subunit of the voltage-gated sodium channel, Na(v)1.7, were found to be responsible for PE.

Colistin inhalation monotherapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia of Acinetobacter baumannii in prematurity.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by Acinetobacter baumannii is increasing. It has a high mortality rate but experience in using inhaled colistin as monotherapy for VAP in children, especially pre-term infants, is limited. This study presents experiences using aerosolized colistin as monotherapy for VAP due to A.

Identification and cytoprotective function of a novel nestin isoform, Nes-S, in dorsal root ganglia neurons.

In this study, the first nestin isoform, Nes-S, was identified in neurons of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of adult rats. Nes-S cannot form filaments by itself in cytoplasmic intermediate filament-free SW13 cells. Instead, it co-assembles into filaments with vimentin when transfected into vimentin(+) SW13 cells, and with peripherin and neurofilament proteins when transfected into N2a cells.

Melatonin regulates L-arginine transport and NADPH oxidase in young rats with bile duct ligation: role of protein kinase C.

Background: Bile duct ligation (BDL) is a commonly used cholestatic liver disease (CLD) model. We recently found that L-arginine levels were significantly raised by melatonin in young rats with BDL. We hypothesized that protein kinase C-α (PKC-α) is involved in the increases of L-arginine in melatonin-treated BDL rats.

Docosahexaenoic acid and phosphatidylserine improves the antioxidant activities in vitro and in vivo and cognitive functions of the developing brain.

Fish oil during early postnatal period may modulate the impact of oxidative stress in the developing brain and thus improve memory and cognitive behaviour. This study investigated the impacts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6, n-3) and/or phosphatidylserine (PS) on antioxidant activities in vitro, and the beneficial effects of feeding with DHA and/or PS on antioxidant activities in brain and liver tissues and on the cognitive functions of the developing brain. Results indicated that DHA and/or PS significantly enhanced antioxidant activities and increased cell viabilities in vitro.

Fish omega-3 fatty acids induce liver fibrosis in the treatment of bile duct-ligated rats.

Background: Biliary atresia-induced cholestasis increases hepatic oxidative stress with eventual progression to cirrhosis and liver failure. Omega-3 fatty acids play a possible role in the regulation of oxidative stress and the improvement of cholestasis.

Aim: The goal of the present study is to investigate the role of dietary supplementation of fish omega-3 fatty acids in the reduction of hepatocellular damage by using a rat common bile duct ligation model.

Calcium and magnesium in drinking-water and risk of death from lung cancer in women.

The possible association between the risk of lung cancer in women and the levels of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in drinking-water from municipal supplies was investigated in a matched, case-control study in Taiwan. All eligible female lung cancer deaths (3,532 cases) of Taiwan residents, from 2000 through to 2008, were compared with deaths from other causes (3,532 controls), and the levels of Ca and Mg in drinking-water of these residents were determined. Data on Ca and Mg levels in drinking-water throughout Taiwan were obtained from the Taiwan Water Supply Corporation (TWSC).

Emerging kinetics of BCR-ABL1 mutations and their effect on disease outcomes in chronic myeloid leukemia patients with imatinib failure.

Some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) do not respond or relapse. BCR-ABL1 mutations are the principal cause of TKI resistance, but the kinetics of emerging mutations in CML patients treated with imatinib remain to be determined. To investigate the emergence dynamics of mutations and their effects on outcomes, we conducted a systematically longitudinal study of BCR-ABL1 mutation dynamics during TKI therapy.

Expressed breast milk for procedural pain in preterm neonates: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Aim: To determine whether expressed breast milk (milk) reduces procedural pain associated with heel lancing in preterm neonates.

Methods: In this placebo-controlled trial, preterm neonates received 5 mL of distilled water as placebo (water, n = 44), 25% glucose water (glucose, n = 39) or milk (n = 40). Heel lancing was performed 2 min later.

Parity, age at first birth, and risk of death from brain cancer: a population-based cohort study in Taiwan.

Background: This study was undertaken to examine whether there is an association between parity and age at first birth and risk of death from brain cancer.

Methods: The study cohort consisted of 1,292,462 women who had a first and singleton childbirth between Jan. 1, 1978 and Dec.

Sonographic gallbladder abnormality is associated with intravenous immunoglobulin resistance in Kawasaki disease.

Objective: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systematic vasculitis in children which causes coronary arterial lesions and hydrops of gallbladder. Our objective is to correlate the clinical significance and influence on disease outcome of patients with gallbladder abnormalities in Kawasaki dissease.

Methods: Children who met KD diagnosis criteria and were admitted for IVIG treatment were retrospectively enrolled for analysis.

Incidence and result of treatment-demanding retinopathy of prematurity using revised U.S. screening guidelines.

Objective: To study the incidence of treated retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) using the revised U.S. screening guidelines, the rate of missed treatment, and unfavorable anatomic outcomes over a period of 2 years.

Effect modification by drinking water hardness of the association between nitrate levels and gastric cancer: evidence from an ecological study.

The objectives of this study were to (1) examine the relationship between nitrate levels in public water supplies and risk of death from gastric cancer and (2) determine whether calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) levels in drinking water might modify the effects of nitrate on the risk of gastric cancer development. A matched cancer case-control study was used to investigate the relationship between the risk of death attributed to gastric cancer and exposure to nitrate in drinking water in Taiwan. All deaths due to gastric cancer in Taiwan residents from 2006 through 2010 were obtained from the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Taiwan Provincial Department of Health.

The impact of intrapulmonary shunting after liver transplantation in pediatric patients.

Background/purpose: Intrapulmonary shunting (IPS) due to pulmonary vascular dilatation is frequently observed among patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD). This study investigated the prevalence and impact of IPS after liver transplantation (LT) in children.

Methods: A total of 77 pediatric patients who underwent primary LT were enrolled.

Alterations in NADPH oxidase expression and blood-brain barrier in bile duct ligation-treated young rats: effects of melatonin.

Bile duct ligation (BDL)-treated rats exhibit cholestasis and increased systemic and brain oxidative stress. Activation of NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) oxidase and disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are implicated as the pathogenetic mechanisms of brain dysfunction in BDL-treated adult rats. Young rats underwent sham ligation or BDL at day 17 for 2 or 4weeks.

Parity, age at first birth, and risk of death from chronic renal failure: a cohort study of parous women in Taiwan.

Background: This study was undertaken to examine whether there is an association between parity and age at first birth and risk of death from chronic renal failure (CRF).

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting And Participants: The study cohort consisted of 1 292 462 women who had a first and singleton childbirth between January 1, 1978 and December 31, 1987.

A persistent level of Cisd2 extends healthy lifespan and delays aging in mice.

The CISD2 gene, which is an evolutionarily conserved novel gene, encodes a transmembrane protein primarily associated with the mitochondrial outer membrane. Significantly, the CISD2 gene is located within the candidate region on chromosome 4q where a genetic component for human longevity has been mapped. Previously, we have shown that Cisd2 deficiency shortens lifespan resulting in premature aging in mice.

VarioWatch: providing large-scale and comprehensive annotations on human genomic variants in the next generation sequencing era.

VarioWatch (http://genepipe.ncgm.sinica.

Targeted Casp8AP2 methylation increases drug resistance in mesenchymal stem cells and cancer cells.

Casp8AP2 contains a FLASH functional domain and is critical for the formation of death complex and the relay of death signal into the cells. Genetic defects in Casp8AP2 are associated with several diseases. A CpG island within the Casp8AP2 promoter is differentially regulated during somatic stem cell differentiation, and aberrant DNA methylation within the Casp8AP2 promoter has been reported in cancers.

Parity and risk of death from lung cancer among a cohort of premenopausal parous women in Taiwan.

Background: We examined the association between parity and risk of lung cancer.

Methods: The study cohort consisted of all women with a record of a first singleton birth in the Taiwanese Birth Register between 1978 and 1987. We tracked each woman from the time of their first childbirth to 31 December 2009.

Predicting the early invasiveness of nasopharyngeal mucosal neoplasia after radiotherapy by narrow-band imaging: a pilot study.

Background: This study evaluated the correlation between the histologic findings of nasopharyngeal mucosal neoplasias after radiotherapy and narrow-band imaging (NBI) endoscopic findings.

Methods: One hundred six patients were enrolled. All patients underwent conventional white-light endoscopic examinations of the nasopharynx, which were followed by NBI endoscopy.