Poecilostomatoid Copepods Parasitic in Bivalve Mollusks of Taiwan

Three species of poecilostomatoid copepods parasitic in bivalve mollusks of Taiwan were described. They are: Ostrincola simi/is sp. nov. from the cultured oyster, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg), and green mussel, Perna viridis (Linnaeus), attached to this species of oyster; Myicola formosanus sp. nov. from the circular clam, Cyclina sinensis (Gmelin); and Anthessius mytilicolus Reddiah, 1966 from the green mussels attached to the cultured C. gigas. This is the first report of parasitic copepods from the bivalve mollusks of Taiwan

A cross-racial comparison of the relationship of personality traits, body mass, and physical fitness among junior high school students in Taiwan

The purpose of the study was to compare differences among 18 personality trait scales of the California Personality Inventory (CPI), six American Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER) tests of physical fitness, and Ponderal Index (PI, or body mass) measurements for a population of ethnic Chinese and aboriginal Taiwanese junior high school male athletes and nonathletes; the secondary purpose was to determine relationships among these variables. The study sample included 839 subjects, administered the tests at 18 junior high schools in Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). Statistical analysis was prepared at the Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, ROC. The subject population included 183 subjects active in team sports (volleyball, soccer, baseball), 214 subjects active in individual sports (track and field, wrestling, swimming), and 442 nonathlete subjects between the ages 13 to 16 years. From the results of this investigation, it was found that ethnic Chinese and aboriginal Taiwanese subjects differed significantly on several of the CPI trait scales and physical fitness tests, but that there were no significant differences between the two racial classifications for PI measurements. Athlete subjects from both racial classifications scored significantly higher than nonathletes on all of the physical fitness tests, and upon several of the CPI trait scales. Nonathletes from both racial classifications scored significantly higher than athletes from both groups for the PI measurements. In addition, team sport athletes scored significantly higher than individual sport athletes on physical fitness tests for sit-ups, the long jump, and the 600-yard run, as well as for PI measurements and the CPI Self-Acceptance scale. Significant interactions were found between athletes and nonathletes from both racial classifications for the sit-ups, shuttle run, and 50-yard dash physical fitness test and the CPI Communality scale, and between individual and team sport athletes from both racial classifications for the pull-ups and sit-ups physical fitness tests. For the ethnic Chinese subjects, with the exception of pull-ups, there was a significant interaction between all physical fitness tests and for 15 of the 18 CPI trait scales; for the aboriginal Taiwanese subjects, there was a significant interaction between all of the physical fitness tests and total CPI score. No significant correlationships were found between the CPI trait scales, tests of physical fitness, and PI measurements for ethnic Chinese subjects, whereas significant correlations among the same variables were established for the aboriginal Taiwanese subjects. For the latter, as physical fitness test scores increased, there was a tendency for certain personality characteristics (Dominance, Capacity for Status, Sociability, Social Presence, Self-Acceptance, Achievement via Independence, Intellectual Efficiency, and Femininity) to become increasingly strong influences

A Follow-up Study of Neonatal Interatrial Shunt with Echocardiography until Twelve to Fifteen Months of Age

ObjectiveTo assess the incidence and natural history of full-term neonates with interatrial shunt (IAS).MethodsA follow-up study of 1389 neonates who received screening echocardiography between 2003 and 2006. Babies with IAS at 2 to 4 days of life underwent follow-up echocardiography at 2 to 4 months, 6 to 9 months and 12 to 15 months of age until closure of IAS.ResultsThe ratio of IAS was 68.3% initially. No significant demographic differences were identified between infants with and without initial IAS. Among 949 neonates with initial IAS, 84.5% infants had a left-to-right interatrial shunt, 13.5% had bidirectional shunt and 2% had predominantly right-to-left shunt. The persistence rate of IAS at 12 to 15 months of age was 3.8% (44/1166). The initial size of IAS ranged from 1.2 to 7.7 mm (4.3 ± 1.1 mm) detected by color Doppler flow mapping and cases were divided into three groups: small (≦5 mm), medium (5 to 8 mm) and large group (≧8 mm). There were 74.6% infants in the small group and 25.4% in the medium group initially. The neonates in the initial small group would always see their IAS close or else they would remain in the small group. Those in the final medium and large size groups always came from the initial medium group. The late closure rate of IAS was 93.9% of infants with initial IAS. The closure curves of initial small and medium sized groups were significantly different, and their late closure rates were 95.1% and 90.4%, respectively.ConclusionsIAS was very common during early neonatal stage, but most cases would close after 1 year. The late closure rate of initial IAS was different if using a cutpoint of 5 mm

The Taiwan ECDFS Near-Infrared Survey: Ultra-deep J and Ks Imaging in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South

We present ultra-deep J and Ks imaging observations covering a 30' * 30' area of the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South (ECDFS) carried out by our Taiwan ECDFS Near-Infrared Survey (TENIS). The median 5-sigma limiting magnitudes for all detected objects in the ECDFS reach 24.5 and 23.9 mag (AB) for J and Ks, respectively. In the inner 400 arcmin^2 region where the sensitivity is more uniform, objects as faint as 25.6 and 25.0 mag are detected at 5-sigma. So this is by far the deepest J and Ks datasets available for the ECDFS. To combine the TENIS with the Spitzer IRAC data for obtaining better spectral energy distributions of high-redshift objects, we developed a novel deconvolution technique (IRACLEAN) to accurately estimate the IRAC fluxes. IRACLEAN can minimize the effect of blending in the IRAC images caused by the large point-spread functions and reduce the confusion noise. We applied IRACLEAN to the images from the Spitzer IRAC/MUSYC Public Legacy in the ECDFS survey (SIMPLE) and generated a J+Ks selected multi-wavelength catalog including the photometry of both the TENIS near-infrared and the SIMPLE IRAC data. We publicly release the data products derived from this work, including the J and Ks images and the J+Ks selected multiwavelength catalog.Comment: 25 pages, 25 figures, ApJS in pres