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Biomedical subjects

C Y Lee

Publications and source records attributed to C Y Lee.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Change of core conflicts of schizophrenic patients who received brief psychodynamic psychotherapy: a pilot study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the change of core conflicts of schizophrenic patients who received brief psychodynamic psychotherapy (BPP). METHODS: The change of core conflicts and relationship patterns over dynamic psychotherapy sessions were assessed by the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method. Patients were enrolled either from the psychiatric outpatient department or day hospital in a medical center. Transcripts of psychotherapy sessions were used for CCRT analysis. In each extracted transcript, 3 components, i.e., wishes, responses from others and responses of self, were identified and were used to formulate the CCRT. CCRT pervasiveness was calculated to compare the change of each component from early to late sessions. RESULTS: The main other person most frequently mentioned was the family member. The changes of positive and negative responses of self were found to be statistically significant. Wishes were not so pervasive as those of non-psychotic patients. A high drop-out rate characterized the schizophrenic patients. CONCLUSION: Self-understanding and self-control may well explain the significant change in responses of self, even in patients with essentially poor ego strength like schizophrenics.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Enteric adenovirus infection in children in Taipei.

Enteric adenoviruses (EAds), including type 40 (Ad40) and 41 (Ad41), can cause acute and severe diarrhea in young children. To delineate the epidemiological features of pediatric EAds infection in Taiwan, we conducted a retrospective study of all cases of EAds gastroenteritis in children treated at National Taiwan University Hospital for the period from July 1993 to December 1997. Stool samples were tested for the presence of Ad40 or Ad41 by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). A total of 64 cases of EAds infection in 63 children aged from 8 days to 81 months old with a median age of 9.5 months treated during the study period were identified. The male-to-female ratio was 1.63 (39/24). No obvious seasonal clustering of EAds cases was noted. Most patients (76.6%) were infected before the age of 2 years. Clinical features included diarrhea (96.9%), fever (54.7%), vomiting (45.3%), mild dehydration (43.8%), symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection (21.9%), and abdominal pain (12.5%). Analysis of fecal samples in patients with diarrhea showed watery diarrhea in 72.2%, diarrhea with mucus in 20%, diarrhea with blood in 3.1% and diarrhea with mucus and blood in 1.6 % of all patients. Nearly one-half (43.5%) of the patients had diarrhea for more than 7 days. Thirty-seven patients (57.8%) were hospitalized due to gastroenteritis or other unrelated diseases, and 11 patients (17.2%) acquired enteric adenovirus infection during hospitalization for other underlying disease. Twelve patients (18.8%) had mixed infections, which included rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Salmonella species. There were no deaths in this series. The findings of this study suggest that EAds are important etiologic microbes of pediatric gastroenteritis.

Adenoviridae Infections↗
PubMed2000

Rotavirus gastroenteritis in children: 5-year experience in a medical center.

Rotavirus infection is the leading cause of childhood gastroenteritis. We retrospectively reviewed cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis at National Taiwan University Hospital from January 1993 to December 1997. During the study period there were 429 patients with rotavirus infection with ages ranging from 1 day to 16 years with a median of 13 months. The male-to-female ratio was 1.2:1. Infection occurred before the age of 2 years old in 76% of patients. The seasonal peak occurred in the late winter and early spring during 1993 to 1996, but the case number increased in late spring and summer in 1997. The G serotype of the rotavirus was identified in 302 patients (70%). Vomiting and dehydration developed more frequently following infection with G1 rotaviruses, while an increased frequency of seizures was noted following G2 infection; the differences were not statistically significant. One patient had two episodes of infection; the first one was caused by G1 rotavirus, and the strain causing the second infection could not be typed. In conclusion, the results suggest that there is a strong seasonal variation in the incidence and characteristics of rotavirus infection in Taipei area. The infections caused by G1 and G2 rotaviruses were clinically indistinguishable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Influence of sanitary conditions on the field performance of chlorpyrifos-based baits against American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana (L.) (Dictyoptera: Blattidae).

The role of sanitation in performance of insecticidal bait stations containing 0.5% chlorpyrifos against the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.), was investigated in residential premises. Test sites were chosen from three locations in Penang Island, Malaysia, and clustered according to their sanitary conditions. Results indicated that at 1-week post-treatment, houses with good sanitary conditions showed a significantly faster reduction (P > 0.05) in the number of cockroaches trapped (> 95%) than those with moderate and poor conditions. At 6 weeks post-treatment, all houses treated with insecticidal baits showed no significant difference in terms of reduction rate of cockroach numbers (P > 0.05), irrespective of sanitary condition. However, the bait performance in houses with poor sanitary conditions could not be sustained up to 12-week post-treatment.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Clinical features and risk factors of pulmonary oedema after enterovirus-71-related hand, foot, and mouth disease.

BACKGROUND: In Taiwan, from April to July, 1998, an epidemic of hand, foot, and mouth disease associated with enterovirus 71 (EV71) occurred with fatal complications. We did a clinical study of EV71-related diseases in Taiwan. METHODS: We studied 154 children with virus-culture confirmed EV71 infection. Children were divided into three groups: 11 patients with pulmonary oedema; 38 patients with central nervous system (CNS) involvement and no pulmonary oedema; and 105 children without complications. We compared the clinical features, laboratory findings, risk factors, and outcome among these three groups. FINDINGS: Nine children with pulmonary oedema had hand, foot, and mouth disease, one had herpangina, and one had febrile illness with eight children with limb weakness and one with limb hypesthesia. All children had had sudden onset of tachycardia, tachypnoea, and cyanosis 1-3 days after onset of the disease. Nine of 11 children died within 12 h of intubation; one child was braindead within 15 h and died 17 days after intubation; one child was in deep coma and died 3 months later. In children with CNS complication and no pulmonary oedema, one child died of pneumonia after 4 months of ventilator support and four children had sequelae. All 105 children without complications recovered. There was a significant association between CNS involvement and pulmonary oedema (odds ratio 12.4 [95% CI 2.6-60.1], p=0.001). Risk factors for pulmonary oedema after CNS involvement were hyperglycaemia, leucocytosis, and limb weakness. Hyperglycaemia was the most significant prognostic factor for pulmonary oedema (odds ratio 21.5 [3-159], p=0.003). INTERPRETATION: EV71 can cause hand, foot, and mouth disease, CNS involvement with severe sequelae, and fatal pulmonary oedema. Hyperglycaemia is the most important prognostic factor.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Characterization of a brain-specific nuclear LIM domain protein (FHL1B) which is an alternatively spliced variant of FHL1.

We have amplified and sequenced a novel, alternatively spliced variant of a human gene coding for the four-and-a-half LIM domain protein 1 (FHL1). This gene is located at chromosome Xq27 and the spliced variant is named FHL1B. The ORF of FHL1B cDNA codes for a LIM-only protein that possesses a zinc finger and three tandem repeats of LIM domains at the N-terminus with an active bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS) motif and a possible RBP-J binding region at the C-terminus. FHL1B and FHL1 have the same N-terminal three-and-a-half LIM domains but different C-terminal protein sequences, due to the presence of an additional alternative exon 4b in FHL1B causing a frame-shift in the 3'coding region. RT-PCR results revealed that the expression of FHL1 is not restricted in skeletal muscle and heart, but is widely distributed in other tissues, including brain, placenta, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas, albeit as a low abundance transcript. In contrast, FHL1B is specifically expressed in brain. The C-terminal alternative region in FHL1B is sufficient to localize FHL1B in the nucleus of mammalian cell. FHL1B is probably related to neural differentiation and certain fragile X syndrome.

Alternative Splicing↗
PubMed1999

In vivo and in vitro association of 14-3-3 epsilon isoform with calmodulin: implication for signal transduction and cell proliferation.

Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, human 14-3-3 epsilon protein was found to interact with human calmodulin. In vitro binding assay between human 14-3-3 epsilon protein/peptide and calmodulin was demonstrated by native gel electrophoresis, and the interaction was shown to be calcium dependent. Our results, along with the association of the 14-3-3 epsilon protein with other signaling proteins, suggest that the 14-3-3 protein could provide a link between signal transduction and cell proliferation.

14-3-3 Proteins↗
PubMed1999

Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a novel fibroblast growth factor preferentially expressed in human heart.

A novel human fibroblast growth factor (hFGF), which shows 75% sequence homology with fibroblast growth factor-9, was isolated in random sequencing of a human heart cDNA library. The full-length sequence is 928 bp, the encoded protein is composed of 168 amino acid residues, and its pI value and molecular weight were estimated to be 8.13 and 19.1 kDa, respectively. RT-PCR using Marathon human heart cDNA shows that the coding region is approximately 507 bp. Southern hybridization showed a single band which indicates that this is a single copy gene. Northern hybridization done on a human multiple tissues blot showed that the gene is preferentially expressed in human heart, very weakly detectable in human brain and not detectable in 18 other different human tissues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Characterization of the human 36-kDa carboxyl terminal LIM domain protein (hCLIM1).

We characterized a human cDNA clone encoding a 36-kDa carboxyl terminal LIM domain protein with a PDZ domain at the amino terminal. This full-length cDNA clone has a predicted open reading frame (ORF) of 329 amino-acid residues. The ORF of this cDNA encodes the human homolog of rat CLP36, and the putative protein is named human 36-kDa carboxyl terminal LIM domain protein (hCLIM1, nomenclature approved by the HUGO/GDB Nomenclature Committee). The hCLIM1 probe was used to hybridize with poly(A)+ RNA of various human tissues. Strong signals were detected in heart and skeletal muscle; moderate signals were detected in spleen, small intestine, colon, placenta, and lung; weaker levels were detected in liver, thymus, kidney, prostate, and pancreas; and no observable signals were detected in brain, testis, ovary, and peripheral blood leukocytes. The hCLIM1 gene was studied by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), somatic cell hybrid analysis, and radiation hybrid mapping, and it is located at the human chromosome 10q26.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Long-term response to hepatitis B vaccination and response to booster in children born to mothers with hepatitis B e antigen.

Hepatitis B (HB) vaccine provides an uncertain duration of protection and the optimal timing of booster vaccine remains unclear. This study examined the immune response at 10 years of 118 children who had developed protective anti-HB surface (anti-HBs) levels after a primary series of HB immunizations in infancy. All of the children were born to hepatitis B e Antigen (HBeAg)-positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier mothers. HB markers in all subjects and cellular immune response in some were determined. A booster was given to all subjects after the collection of samples and another blood sample was collected 4 weeks later. The results showed that a total of 39 (33%) of the children were seronegative for anti-HBs. T-cell proliferative response to HBsAg was noted in 47% of children. On HBsAg stimulation, leukocyte samples from a significantly higher proportion of subjects produced cytokines (81% of T cells produced interleukin-2 [IL-2] and 100% produced IL-5). The booster dose of HB vaccine induced the production of a protective level of anti-HBs (>/=10 mIU/mL) in all subjects. Cellular immunity was augmented with a positive rate of 58%, 90%, and 100% for HBsAg-induced T-cell proliferation, IL-2 production, and IL-5 production, respectively. Although 14 (11.9%) of the subjects were HB core antibody positive at 10 years of age, no new HBsAg carrier was detected. The results of this study show that protection afforded by HB vaccination persisted to the age of 10 years in all vaccinees. Immunologic memory was detected in all subjects including those who had lost their anti-HBs seropositivity. These results suggest that no booster vaccination is needed before 10 years of age. The most sensitive marker of immunologic memory is IL-5 production of T cells. (HEPATOLOGY 1999;29:954-959.)

Child↗
PubMed1999

A histological analysis of liver injury in freezing storage.

As part of a more extensive study on the use of high subzero freezing for cryopreservation of mammalian livers we have tried to single out the effects of freezing and thawing on tissue damage. We compared the morphology of livers after freezing and thawing with what we considered an optimal high subzero cryopreservation protocol with the morphology of livers preserved under the same thermal conditions and in the same solution in a supercooled state, without freezing. The results show that while hepatocytes survive high subzero cryopreservation, detachment of endothelial cells occurs in every freezing experiment. On the other hand, the endothelial cells in livers that are not frozen are intact. This suggests that endothelial cell damage is caused by freezing and may be an important factor in high subzero freezing cryopreservation of the liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Inhibition of glucose transporter gene expression by antisense nucleic acids in HL-60 leukemia cells.

Glucose is the basic source of energy for mammalian cells. The energy-independent transport of glucose down its concentration gradient is mediated by the facilitative glucose transporter family (GLUT). It has long been recognised that glucose transporter genes are overexpressed in many human cancer cells, to help provide extra energy for the rapid growth of cancer cells. In the present study, antisense oligonucleotides and plasmid-derived antisense RNA against GLUT-1 gene were synthesized and transfected into human leukemia HL-60 cells to investigate the effect of these antisense nucleic acids on tumour growth. Our results show that antisense nucleic acids inhibited the proliferation of HL-60 cells by 50-60% and the mRNA expression of GLUT-1 gene was suppressed as detected by Northern hybridization.

Blotting, Northern↗
PubMed1999

Enhanced cytotoxicity and suppression of glucose transport rate by combined treatment of recombinant human tumour necrosis factor-alpha and hyperthermia on L929 cells.

Combined treatment with human recombinant TNF-alpha (rhTNF-alpha) and hyperthermia at 43 degrees C arrested the growth of mouse fibrosarcoma L929 cells in vitro. The cytotoxic effect was enhanced in combined treatment compared with that following administration of rhTNF-alpha or hyperthermia alone. When the cells were subjected to hyperthermia at 43 degrees C for 3 hours and then incubated with 0.4 ng/ml rhTNF-alpha at 37 degrees C for 24 hours, a statistically significant 65% decrease in the rate of cellular glucose uptake was observed. This suppressive effect was synergistic in terms of effect achieved by rhTNF-alpha or hyperthermia individually. Since the growth of tumour cells depends mainly on catabolism of glucose, our findings indicate that one manner by which combined rhTNF-alpha and hyperthermia treatment inhibits L929 cell growth may be by reducing the supply of glucose to the cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Inhibition of glucose uptake and suppression of glucose transporter 1 mRNA expression in L929 cells by tumour necrosis factor-alpha.

Recombinant human tumour necrosis factor-alpha (rhTNF-alpha) arrested the growth and suppressed glucose uptake of mouse fibrosarcoma L929 cells in vitro. When the cells were treated with rhTNF-alpha for 24 hours, the mRNA level of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT 1), which is the only GLUT found to be present in L929 cells in our study, was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. Since the growth of tumour cells depends mainly on glucose catabolism, our findings may indicate that rhTNF-alpha inhibits L929 cells growth by lowering the glucose transport through suppression of GLUT 1 mRNA expression in the cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Toxicological and antioxidant effects of short-term dehydroepiandrosterone injection in young rats fed diets deficient or adequate in vitamin E.

This study examined the in vivo antioxidant and/or prooxidant effect of short-term dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) injection and the effect of dietary vitamin E. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (4 wk old) were fed vitamin E-deficient or vitamin E-adequate (30 mg DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg) diet for 4 weeks followed by intraperitoneal injection of DHEA for 1 week. The results showed that DHEA injection caused a dose-dependent decrease in body weight, and this effect was more pronounced in vitamin E-deficient rats. In contrast, DHEA injection significantly increased liver, kidney and adrenal weights. Hepatic vitamin E content was significantly lowered by vitamin E deficiency, which led to significantly increased ex vivo and iron-induced lipid peroxidation. DHEA injection did not affect hepatic vitamin E content but significantly decreased ex vivo and iron-induced lipid peroxidation in vitamin E-deficient rats. Hepatic total sulfhydryl (SH) groups and non-protein SH contents were not affected by vitamin E but were significantly increased by DHEA injection, which at 100 mg/kg was not more effective than at 50 mg/kg. Hepatic glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity was significantly decreased by DHEA, but vitamin E alleviated such a decrease. DHEA injection significantly increased hepatic glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity, and the effect was dose dependent in vitamin E-deficient rats. Thus, DHEA may compensate for vitamin E deficiency in vivo, and this effect is masked when dietary vitamin E is adequate. The antioxidant effect of DHEA is accompanied by decreased body weights, enlarged (fat-laden) tissues and altered activities of hepatic GST and G6PD.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1999

Nonexercise stress transthoracic echocardiography: transesophageal atrial pacing versus dobutamine stress.

OBJECTIVES: To compare transesophageal atrial pacing stress echocardiography with dobutamine stress echocardiography for feasibility, safety, duration, patient acceptance and concordance in inducing wall motion abnormalities. BACKGROUND: Transesophageal atrial pacing is an effective method of increasing heart rate and has been used in the assessment of coronary artery disease. METHODS: Both tests were performed in sequence on the same patients in random order. Transesophageal atrial pacing stress echocardiography began at a heart rate of 10 beats/min above the baseline value and was increased by 20 beats/min every two min until 85% of the age-predicted maximum heart rate or another end point was reached. Dobutamine echocardiography was performed using three-min stages and a maximum dose of 40 microg/kg per min. Atropine (total dose < or =2 mg) was administered at the start of the 40 microg/kg per min stage if needed to augment heart rate or during pacing if Wenckebach heart block occurred. RESULTS: Transesophageal atrial pacing stress echocardiography was feasible in 100 of 104 patients (96%); the duration (8.6+/-3.6 min) was significantly shorter than that of dobutamine stress echocardiography (15.1+/-3.9 min) (p = 0.0001). With transesophageal atrial pacing stress echocardiography, the recovery period was shorter, symptoms and dysrhythmias were fewer, hypertension and hypotension were less common and target heart rate was more frequently achieved. No complications occurred with either test. Patient acceptance was satisfactory. Agreement between results of both tests was good for segmental wall motion scoring with a 16-segment model, scores 1 to 5 (kappa: rest, 0.79; peak, 0.57) and test interpretation (normal, ischemia, infarction or resting wall motion abnormality with ischemia) (kappa: 0.77). CONCLUSIONS: Transesophageal atrial pacing stress echocardiography is a feasible, well-tolerated alternative to dobutamine stress echocardiography. It can be performed rapidly and shows good agreement with dobutamine stress echocardiography in the induction of myocardial ischemia.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Radiation hybrid mapping of human cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (hcMDH) to the short arm of chromosome 2.

Compartmentalization of human cytosolic malate dehydrogenase, hcMDH, together with its isozyme partner-mitochondrial form, hmMDH, plays an important role in the aerobic metabolism of the malate-aspartate shuttle and the citric acid cycle. However, they share few structural homology at the molecular level. The pseudogenes of mMDH has been reported in mice but hcMDH has no pseudogenes as shown by Southern blot analysis. A single band only was detected for the EcoRI digestion with 9.4 kb long of human genomic DNA and HindIII cutting with 2.8 kb long. hcMDH gene was mapped to chromosome 2 by somatic cell hybrid analysis and further localised to 268.72 cR from the top telomere of Chromosome 2 (near 2p15) by radiation hybrid mapping. The genes falling into this region may be related to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), several types of cancers and immunoregulation mechanism of cancers.

Chromosome Mapping↗