Depression is the Strongest Independent Risk Factor for Poor Social Engagement Among Chinese Elderly Veteran Assisted-living Residents

BackgroundSocial engagement prolongs the lifespan and preserves cognition in the elderly. However, most studies concerning social engagement have been conducted in Western countries; few have been performed in the Chinese population. This study attempted to identify the risk factors for poor social engagement among elderly veterans in Taiwan.MethodsA total of 597 male veterans were enrolled, with a mean age of 80.8 ± 5.0 years. This cross-sectional study employed the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) Minimum Data Set (MDS), the Geriatric Depression Scale–Short Form (GDS-SF), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to investigate significant independent risk factors for poor social engagement, which were identified using the MDS Index of Social Engagement (ISE).ResultsMean ISE score was 1.5 ± 1.3 (range, 0–5); 52% of subjects had poor levels of social engagement (ISE < 2; 312/597). Regression analyses suggested that depression (OR, 6.6; 95% CI, 2.7–16.1; p < 0.001), illiteracy (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3–3.8; p = 0.003), the presence of unsettled relationships (OR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.5–8.7; p = 0.004), and cognitive impairment (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1–3.9; p = 0.03) were significant independent risk factors for poor social engagement, after controlling for age, marital status, level of daily living activity and degree of sensory impairment.ConclusionPoor social engagement is common among Chinese assisted-living veteran home residents. Depression is the greatest risk factor of poor social engagement in this population

Seabed gas emissions and submarine landslides off SW Taiwan

Methane emissions out of the seabed could seriously affect Earthâs climate and are usually associated with the dissociation of gas hydrates stored in marine sediments on the continental margins. Spatially, gas emissions out of the seafloor are not evenly distributed in continental margins. Gas emissions out of the seabed generally occur through submarine mud volcanoes and gas seeps. To understand the seabed gas emissions off SW Taiwan, we investigate the distributions of active submarine mud volcanoes, gas seeps, and gas plumes off SW Taiwan. We examine all of the available sub-bottom profiler and EK echo sounder data. We identified 19 submarine mud volcanoes, 220 gas seeps, and 295 gas plumes. The gas emissions are generally distributed at the crests of mud diapiric ridges. Most of the active mud volcanoes and gas seeps cluster at the KASMVG (Kaoping submarine mud volcanoes group) area. We speculate that the intensive mud volcanism and gas seepage at the KASMVG area are ascribed to submarine channel erosion along the continental slope base. The erosion causes a deep V-shaped channel and a steep BSR (Bottom-Simulating Reflector) slope curve across the continental margin. The upward migration rate of free gas beneath the BSR is thus increased and intensifies mud volcanism and gas seepage at the KASMVG area. The gas seeps can reduce the slope stability and generate small-scale slides. The development of mud volcanoes in an area could effectively disturb the seabed morphology so that large-scale submarine landslides cannot easily happen

Fever Screening at Airports and Imported Dengue

Airport fever screening in Taiwan, July 2003–June 2004, identified 40 confirmed dengue cases. Results obtained by capture immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG enzyme-linked immunoassay, real time 1-step polymerase chain reaction, and virus isolation showed that 33 (82.5%) of 40 patients were viremic. Airport fever screening can thus quickly identify imported dengue cases

Sentinel surveillance for enterovirus 71, Taiwan, 1998.

Outbreaks of enterovirus 71 have been reported around the world since 1969. The most recent outbreak occurred in Taiwan during April-July 1998. This hand, foot, and mouth disease epidemic was detected by a sentinel surveillance system in April at the beginning of the outbreak, and the public was alerted

Production of Inactivated Influenza H5N1 Vaccines from MDCK Cells in Serum-Free Medium

BACKGROUND: Highly pathogenic influenza viruses pose a constant threat which could lead to a global pandemic. Vaccination remains the principal measure to reduce morbidity and mortality from such pandemics. The availability and surging demand for pandemic vaccines needs to be addressed in the preparedness plans. This study presents an improved high-yield manufacturing process for the inactivated influenza H5N1 vaccines using Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells grown in a serum-free (SF) medium microcarrier cell culture system. PRINCIPAL FINDING: The current study has evaluated the performance of cell adaptation switched from serum-containing (SC) medium to several commercial SF media. The selected SF medium was further evaluated in various bioreactor culture systems for process scale-up evaluation. No significant difference was found in the cell growth in different sizes of bioreactors studied. In the 7.5 L bioreactor runs, the cell concentration reached to 2.3 × 10(6) cells/mL after 5 days. The maximum virus titers of 1024 Hemagglutinin (HA) units/50 µL and 7.1 ± 0.3 × 10(8) pfu/mL were obtained after 3 days infection. The concentration of HA antigen as determined by SRID was found to be 14.1 µg/mL which was higher than those obtained from the SC medium. A mouse immunogenicity study showed that the formalin-inactivated purified SF vaccine candidate formulated with alum adjuvant could induce protective level of virus neutralization titers similar to those obtained from the SC medium. In addition, the H5N1 viruses produced from either SC or SF media showed the same antigenic reactivity with the NIBRG14 standard antisera. CONCLUSIONS: The advantages of this SF cell-based manufacturing process could reduce the animal serum contamination, the cost and lot-to-lot variation of SC medium production. This study provides useful information to manufacturers that are planning to use SF medium for cell-based influenza vaccine production