The epidemiology and surveillance of blood lead in Taiwan (R.O.C.): A report on the PRESS-BLL project

 To monitor the lead hazards in industries and to investigate the prevalence of elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) in lead-exposed workers, a lead surveillance system (PRESS-BLLs) has been established and operated in Taiwan, Republic of China, since July 1993. A cohort of lead-exposed workers who received a periodic annual health examination at 55 accredited hospital laboratories was constructed. A total of 9807 separate BLL measurements were reported to the system in 1994. The mean BLL was 15.8 μg/dl in male workers and 11.6 μg/dl in female workers. The mean BLL of lead-exposed workers was significantly (P<0.05, z-test) higher than that of the general Taiwanese population (8.6 μg/dl for males and 6.7 μg/dl for females). In addition, the BLLs of 983 (10.0%) workers exceeded the regulatory action level (40 μg/dl for males; 30 μg/dl for females). The workplaces and homes of 57% of the workers with elevated BLLs were thoroughly investigated to determine the sources of lead contamination. These actions identified the causes of elevated BLLs and set up strategies to reduce workers’ lead exposure. The establishment of this occupational lead surveillance system represents a method for monitoring of lead hazards from occupational and environmental settings to prevent lead poisoning. The information acquired from the system can help in the setting up of a priority of prevention and the development of control measures. It is also useful for further monitoring of changes in the BLLs of the lead-exposed-worker cohort. The Health Department of Taiwan can use this information to evaluate the effectiveness of current industrial hygiene practice. Subjects with elevated BLLs have been medically treated and placed on long-term follow-up for sequelae. Received: 2 September 1996/Accepted: 29 November 1996     

A feasibility study on teaching evaluation system in medical education

The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation instrument with high feasibility and acceptability, and to quantify the outcome of evaluation, in order to set up an efficient evaluation system. Teaching evaluation with questionnaire by students has been carried out in National Yang-Ming Medical College for two years. With the support of both teachers and students, the system has been established and conducted on a regular basis. The most important purpose of evaluation is to improve the quality of teaching. During the two academic years (Sep. 1986-June 1988) of the program, the overall response rate was 44.5%, the Department of Nursing had the highest response rate, followed by Dentistry, Medicine-Post Graduate, Medical Technology, and Medicine. Taking into consideration of the year and the class size, the regression analysis found that higher year or smaller size of the class had better response rate. The response rates dropped significantly after the first academic year regardless of department or year. A total of 23 classes were included in the evaluation program and 99 courses were evaluated. All questions in the questionnaire used a 0 to 4 ordinal scale, in which 0 (improvement needed) was the low end and 4 (excellent) the high end. The mean score of the seven questions of teaching evaluation was 2.47. As a whole, the students were satisfied with the teaching. As to the categories of courses, clinical courses had better mean score than basic medical courses, and basic medical courses had better mean score than common required courses. To evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching, students' achievement was used as the outcome variable. The most important predictive variable was the method of instruction, followed by the content of lecture such as degree of difficulty of the lecture and cognitiveness of the contents. The above 3 variables explained 76% of the variation of the students' achievement. However, the significant of teachers' speech, performance and attitude were not so influential. Analysis based on the characteristics of the teachers (sex, age, position, and teaching experience), the characteristics of students (department and year), teaching environments (time and place), and the 3 categories of courses (clinical, basic medical and common required courses) showed that all the above variables only explained less then 10% of the variation of the students' achievement.     

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial keratitis: a study of 22 cases.

AIM: To investigate causes and clinical findings of non-tuberculous mycobacterial keratitis, and to study its response to topical antibiotic therapy and surgical extirpative keratectomy. METHOD: A single centre, retrospective review of 22 patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial keratitis seen in a 3 year period. Laboratory diagnoses were established with Ziehl-Nielsen acid fast staining and Löwenstein-Jensen cultures. RESULTS: In 20 patients (91%), there was an antecedent history of foreign body eye trauma (18 patients) or elective surgery (two patients). There were 19 cases of Mycobacterium chelonei, and three of M fortuitum. Clinical signs included epithelial defects, satellite or ring stromal infiltrates, crystalline keratopathy, and hypopyon. For topical antibiotic therapy, 20 patients received amikacin, while one patient received rifampin and another received ciprofloxacin, each in accordance with the results of the in vitro drug sensitivities. An extirpative keratectomy was performed in 15 cases; four of these cases additionally required a temporary conjunctival flap in order to finally eradicate the infection. At the end of the follow up period (median 18 months; range 3 months to 3 years) all eyes were stable and free of infection, with 19 (86%) having final visual acuities of 20/200 or better. CONCLUSION: Early clinical recognition and prompt laboratory diagnosis, together with aggressive topical antibiotic therapy and early keratectomy, may shorten morbidity and improve the clinical outcome of non-tuberculous mycobacterial keratitis.     

Topography of cholinergic afferents from the nucleus basalis of meynert to representational areas of sensorimotor cortices in the rat

We investigated (1) the topography of projection neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) with efferents to restricted regions of the primary somatosensory (SI), the second somatosensory (SII), and the primary motor (MI) cortices in the rat; (2) the percentage of these NBM projection neurons that were cholinergic; and (3) the collateralization, if any, of single NBM neurons to different subdivisions within SI, to homotopic areas of SI and SII, and to homotopic areas of SI and MI. Retrograde single-and double-labeling techniques were used to study NBM projections to electrophysiologically identified subdivisions of SI and to homotopic representational areas of SI and SII, and of SI and MI. Choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry was done to identify cholinergic NBM neurons. Of the retrogradely labeled NBM neurons that projected to selective subdivisions of SI, SII, and MI, 89%, 87%, and 88%, respectively, were cholinergic. We found a rostral-to-caudal progression of retrogradely labeled NBM neurons following a medial-to-lateral sequence of injections into subdivisions of SI. Overlapping groups of single-labeled NBM neurons were observed after injections of different tracers into adjacent subdivisions within SI or homotopic areas of SI and SII, and of SI and MI. We conclude that NBM innervation to SI, SII, and MI is mostly cholinergic in the rat, that each cortical area receives cholinergic afferents from neurons widely distributed within the NBM, and that each NBM neuron projects to a restricted cortical area without significant collateralization to adjacent subdivisions within SI or to homotopic areas of SI and SII, or SI and MI. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

人类转移癌间质淋巴样细胞漫润及其意义的探讨

观察126例人类转移癌,分析比较淋巴样细胞浸润(LI)程度与患者年龄、病理类型、组织分化和核异型程度的关系。结果表明:患者年龄及病理类型与LI程度无关;组织分化程度在LI上虽有差别,但无对应性关系;而核异型程度与LI关系密切。核异型性愈明显,LI程度愈高,反之亦然。这说明核分级不仅可以反映宿主免疫反应的高低,也可提示转移癌抗原性的强弱。     

偏心圆剥离法在隆乳术中的应用

以往以乳头为圆心的同心圆剥离法常形成假体的移位，使假体的体表轮廓与前方的自然乳房分离，产生“双重乳房”现象。在研究了女性不同体位下不同的乳房形态及总结了以前的经验后，提出了偏心圆剥离的概念。偏心圆手术设计方法：以乳头为圆心，按其内侧、下侧为直径３／５的比例，以外侧、上侧为直径２／５的比例，形成一偏心圆的剥离范围。偏心圆的直径因考虑到假体的不同形态、大小及底面直径，以经中心假体纵截面的周长的１／２再放大２ｃｍ，作为剥离范围的直径。自１９９１年１０月以来已应用了１７６例，无一术后移位现象，也没有固较多地剥离胸大肌内、下侧止点纤维而影响上肢活动。自然乳房并不是静态的圆锥形或半球形，它具有伸缩的组织学特点，又有随体位变动而变化的特点。用偏心圆法剥离，可使置入的假体与前方的自然乳房融为一体，消除“双重乳房”现象，而成为“真实”的乳房。同时也应积极寻找一种与身体组织相容性好的，弹性、比重与女性乳腺较为一致的，假体容量相对恒定的生物性材料。这样隆乳术才可以更广泛地开展。     

Phase II trial of gallium nitrate,amonafide and teniposide in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer

Summary Fifty-five patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were entered into this phase II randomized study for evaluating three new agents: gallium nitrate, amonafide and teniposide. The patients had to have ECOG performance status 0 or 1, no prior chemotherapy, and adequate hematological, hepatic and renal functions. Forty-seven patients were eligible and evaluable. Fourteen were randomized to receive gallium nitrate, 18 to amonafide and 15 to teniposide. Seventy-four percent of eligible patients were male. The majority of patients (89%) had an ECOG performance status 1. ECOG grade 4 toxicity occurred twice in patients on gallium nitrate, seven times on amonafide and 18 times on teniposide. The cause of death was attributed to amonafide in one patient (from sepsis) and to teniposide in two patients (due to infection and leukopenia). There was no objective response in all the patients entered. The overall survival times ranged from 2 weeks to 156 weeks with a median of 23 weeks. There were no survival differences among the three treatment arms. We conclude that gallium nitrate, amonafide and teniposide are inactive in metastatic NSCLC and do not warrant any further testing in this disease.The contents of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute.     

我国较贫困地区农村学龄前儿童膳食状况

对１９８５～１９８９年７省较贫困的１８个乡农村儿童膳食调查资料采用平均摄入量、临界值及概率法进行了总结分析。结果表明，６～２４月龄母乳喂养儿的辅食品种单一，数量不足。断奶儿童各年龄组热能、蛋白质摄入量的平均值分别达ＲＤＡ的９２％～１０４％和７６％～８４％，但以ＲＤＡ为界值，仍有５３％～６２％及７４％～８５％的儿童热能、蛋白质摄入量低，用概率法分析蛋白质、钙、维生素Ａ、Ｂ２、Ｃ及铁摄入不足的人数比例分别是５０％～６０％、９３％～９７％、５１％～８７％、７４％～８６％、５８％～６６％和１２％～４７％。热能、蛋白质摄入量低于ＲＤＡ值儿童的身高、体重明显低于摄入量高于ＲＤＡ值的儿童。