Exertional headache—a survey of 1963 adolescents

We employed a self-administered questionnaire to investigate exertional headache (EH) in students (ages 13–15 years) from two middle schools in Taiwan. In this study, the diagnosis of EH was made if the headache occurred during or immediately after exercise. In total, 1963 students completed the study (response rate 90.7%). The prevalence of EH was 30.4% ( n  = 596), was higher in girls and decreased with age. EHs were commonly bilateral (51.4%), pulsating (59.4%) and short-lasting (≤ 1 h in 79%). Only 13.8% of the adolescents with EH took painkillers for the headache. Migraineurs were more likely to have EH than non-migraineurs (47.5% vs. 21.1%, P  < 0.001) and their EH had more features of migraine and needed more frequent treatment with painkillers. Only 200 subjects (10.2%) fulfilled the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edn criteria for primary EH excluding criterion C. Our study disclosed that EH was quite prevalent in adolescents. Migraineurs were vulnerable to EH and had more disabling attacks.     

Sociocultural epistasis and cultural exaptation in footbinding,marriage form,and religious practices in early 20th-century Taiwan

Social theorists have long recognized that changes in social order have cultural consequences but have not been able to provide an individual-level mechanism of such effects. Explanations of human behavior have only just begun to explore the different evolutionary dynamics of social and cultural inheritance. Here we provide ethnographic evidence of how cultural evolution, at the level of individuals, can be influenced by social evolution. Sociocultural epistasis—association of cultural ideas with the hierarchical structure of social roles—influences cultural change in unexpected ways. We document the existence of cultural exaptation, where a custom''s origin was not due to acceptance of the later associated ideas. A cultural exaptation can develop in the absence of a cultural idea favoring it, or even in the presence of a cultural idea against it. Such associations indicate a potentially larger role for social evolutionary dynamics in explaining individual human behavior than previously anticipated.     

Placental transfer of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls in Taiwanese mothers in relation to menstrual cycle characteristics.

The aim was to determine the body burden of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and whether they are associated with variables influencing reproduction. Our subjects were healthy women (mean age of 29 [SD=4.5]) from central Taiwan. The congeners of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in placentas (n=119) were identified using gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry. The median levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans and PCBs were 10.2 (geometric mean [GM]: 9.8, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 8.8-10.9) and 2.7 (GM: 2.7, 95% CI: 2.3-3.1) pg WHO-TEQ/g lipid, respectively. Total TEQ level in placentas was significantly correlated with mothers' arm circumference (r=0.22, p=0.043). Increased body fat percentage was associated with higher total TEQ level in placentas. After adjustment for maternal age, pre-pregnant body mass index (BMI), and parity, placental dioxin-TEQ level higher in women (age 19 years) with irregular menstrual cycle than in those (age <18 years) with regular menstrual cycle (p=0.032) and placental PCB-TEQ level was higher in women with menstrual cycles longer than 33 days versus less than 33 days (p=0.006). Thus, environmental exposure to dioxins and PCBs may be related to changes in current menstrual cycle characteristics.     

台湾医院经营管理的重点与借鉴系列之——台湾医院的成本控制手段

探讨大陆医院成本核算制度的问题，包括绩效管理层面和成本控制层面；介绍台湾医院经营管理模式和医院成本管控方法并对台湾经营管理经验与大陆医院的差异进行了比较。     

A novel HLA-A24 (A*2420) allele identified in the Atayal tribe of Taiwan

The Taiwan indigenous population groups are classified into different tribes according their linguistic classification and cultural anthropology. One of the tribes, the Atayal, showed a high frequency of A24 alleles by SSOP analysis. High-resolution sequencing based typing identified a A*2402 variant "A*2420" which was found in 6 unrelated individuals. High-resolution typing is required to identify HLA polymorphism in the Taiwanese minority groups.     

Cefepime MIC as a predictor of the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase type in Klebsiella pneumoniae, Taiwan

To guide selection of carbapenems or fourth-generation cephalosporins as therapy, 110 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates with extended-spectrum beta-lactamases from Taiwan were characterized by phenotypic (MICs), molecular, and chemical methods. MIC patterns of ceftazidime and cefepime clearly differentiate strains treatable by cefepime and those capable of efficiently hydrolyzing available cephalosporins (CTX-M series and SHV-types). Continued use of cefepime appears to be a treatment option in cases for which MIC results are available and interpreted by the criteria presented.     

台湾大学医学院百年史

台湾之有正规的医学教育始自日据时代初期,日本据台后首先在台北设立医院,两年后开办“台湾人医学讲习所”,是日本据台时期医学教育的雏型。1899年设立正式的医学教育机构－台湾总督府医学校,该校于1919年改称台湾总督府医学专门学校,1922年再改称台北医学专门学校,1936年北帝国大学设医学部,1945年太平洋战争结束台湾光复,台北帝大医学部改为台湾大学医学院,附属病院改为台湾大学医学院附设医院,杜聪明任首任院长,台大医学院是台湾光复当时唯一的医学教育机构,其后50余年间,台湾的医学教育有很大的改变和发展,到1990年台湾的医学院已增加到11年,光复前后台大医学院及附设医院的情况以及其医学教育蜕变的过程,可以反映出台大在医学教育,研究及医疗方面的成就。