J Formos Med Assoc
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In neonates, the gastrointestinal tract is rapidly colonized by bacteria after birth. Gut microbiota development is critical during the first few years of life. ⋯ Pathogenic bacteria can colonize the gut prior to sepsis and cause sepsis through translocation. This review explores gut microbiota development in neonates, the evidence linking gut dysbiosis to neonatal sepsis, and the potential role of probiotics in gut microbiota modulation and sepsis prevention.
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The Iconographical Falls Efficacy Scale (Icon-FES) uses short phrases and images to depict activities. This study culturally adapted and validated the Taiwan Chinese version of the 30- and 10-item Icon-FESs (Icon-FESs [TW]) in community-dwelling older individuals. ⋯ The Icon-FES (TW) is a reliable and valid questionnaire useful for assessing the levels of concern regarding falling among older adults in clinical practice and research.
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Congenital nephrotic syndrome (CNS) is one of the important causes of end-stage kidney disease in children. Studies on the genotype, phenotype, and clinical outcome in infants with CNS caused by genetic mutations are scarce. ⋯ The majority of patients with CNS in Taiwan were caused by OSGEP followed by WT1 mutation. R247Q is the hotspot mutation of OSGEP in Taiwan. CNS patients in Taiwan suffer from significant morbidity and mortality.
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Comparative Study
Effect of tibolone versus hormone replacement therapy on lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual function.
Few studies have compared the effects of tibolone versus hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on lower urinary tract symptoms and female sexual function. The current study aimed to compare these treatments. ⋯ Despite the limited effect, tibolone seems to have more benefit in nocturia than HRT. In addition, tibolone seems to have benefits on overall low urinary tract storage symptoms; and both tibolone and HRT seem to have beneficial effects on female sexual function, despite there were no significant differences between tibolone and HRT.
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Sarcopenia and decreased muscle strength (dynapenia) are emerging health issues. However, the study exploring muscle strength changes of both upper and lower limbs at the same time among all age groups is rare. This study aims to investigate the muscle strength and to establish a muscle strength norm of an ostensibly healthy non-diabetic Asian population. ⋯ These data will be useful as normal controls for muscle strength of specific disease groups. The application of the cutoffs from these data and their comparisons with the recommended cutoffs from various guidelines worth further exploration.