Although the intake of specific flavonoid-rich foods may reduce C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, the association between dietary flavonoid intakes and CRP is inconsistent. We aim to describe dietary flavonoid intakes in a Taiwanese nationally representative sample and to investigate the association between flavonoid intakes and CRP. We conducted a cross-sectional study based on 2592 adults from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan 2005–8. Flavonoid intakes were estimated by linking the 24-h dietary recall with the U.S. Department of Agriculture flavonoid database and divided into quartiles. Adjusted estimates of the flavonoid intakes for the continuous and binary (elevated CRP: >0⋅3 mg/dl) variables were performed by using general linear and logistic regression. We found that tea, orange, tofu and sweet potato leaves/water spinach constituted the major food items of the total flavonoid intake. The total flavonoid intake was lower among women and elderly. Compared with the lowest total flavonoid intake quartile, participants in higher quartiles were associated with a lower CRP status (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0⋅61, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0⋅44–0⋅86 for the highest quartiles). The trends were similar for flavonol and flavan-3-ol intakes. Compared with non-consumers, tea consumers were likely to have a lower CRP status (adjusted OR: 0⋅74, 95 % CI: 0⋅57–0⋅97). In brief, a higher total flavonoid intake and tea consumption were inversely associated with CRP levels, indicating that a high-flavonoid diet may contribute to anti-inflammatory effects. A Taiwanese flavonoid content table is necessary for conducting further studies related to flavonoids in Taiwan.

A suite of Jurassic–Cretaceous migmatites was newly identified in the Liaodong Peninsula of the eastern North China Craton (NCC). Anatexis is commonly associated with crustal thickening. However, the newly identified migmatites were formed during strong lithospheric thinning accompanied by voluminous magmatism and intense deformation. Field investigations show that the migmatites are spatially associated with low-angle detachment faults. Numerous leucosomes occur either as isolated lenses or thin layers (dykes), parallel to or cross-cutting the foliation. Peritectic minerals such as titanite and sillimanite are distributed mainly along the boundaries of reactant minerals or are accumulated along the foliation. Most zircons show distinct core–rim structures, and the rims have low Th/U ratios (0.01–0.24). Zircon U–Pb dating results indicate that the protoliths of the migmatites were either the Late Triassic (224–221 Ma) diorites or metasedimentary rocks deposited sometime after c. 1857 Ma. The zircon overgrowth rims record crystallization ages of 173–161 Ma and 125 Ma, which represent the formation time of leucosomes. These ages are consistent with those reported magmatic events in the Liaodong Peninsula and surrounding areas. The leucosomes indicate a strong anatectic event during the Jurassic–Cretaceous period. Partial melting occurred through the breakdown of muscovite and biotite with the presence of water-rich fluid under a thermal anomaly regime. The possible mechanism that caused the 173–161 Ma and 125 Ma anatectic events was intimately related to the regional crustal extension during the lithospheric thinning of the NCC. Meanwhile, the newly generated melts further weakened the rigidity of the crust and enhanced the extension.

To improve the corrosion resistance and to increase the hardness of copper substrate in marine environment, the Cu-Ni/Ni-P composite coatings were prepared on the copper substrate using the galvanostatic electrolytic deposition method. The deposition current densities were explored to find the optimized deposition conditions for forming the composite coatings. Corrosion resistance properties were analyzed using the polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Considering the corrosion resistance and hardness, the −20 mA/cm2 was selected to deposit Cu-Ni coatings on copper substrate and the −30 mA/cm2 was selected to deposit Ni-P coating on the Cu-Ni layer. The Cu-Ni/Ni-P composite coatings not only exhibited superior corrosion resistance compared to single Cu-Ni coating in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, but also showed much better mechanical properties than single Cu-Ni coating.

Cellulitis is a common infection of the skin and soft tissue. Susceptibility to cellulitis is related to microorganism virulence, the host immunity status and environmental factors. This retrospective study from 2001 to 2013 investigated relationships between the monthly incidence rate of cellulitis and meteorological factors using data from the Taiwanese Health Insurance Dataset and the Taiwanese Central Weather Bureau. Meteorological data included temperature, hours of sunshine, relative humidity, total rainfall and total number of rainy days. In otal, 195 841 patients were diagnosed with cellulitis and the incidence rate was strongly correlated with temperature (γS = 0.84, P < 0.001), total sunshine hours (γS = 0.65, P < 0.001) and total rainfall (γS = 0.53, P < 0.001). The incidence rate of cellulitis increased by 3.47/100 000 cases for every 1° elevation in environmental temperature. Our results may assist clinicians in educating the public of the increased risk of cellulitis during warm seasons and possible predisposing environmental factors for infection.

The view that language should be divided into four skills – reading, writing, listening, speaking – has dominated second language (L2) teaching and learning for some time; perspectives have emerged that conceptualize language as holistic or skills as integrated. This construct of language is evident in language assessments, with an increase in ‘integrated skills’ tasks appearing in tests of writing or speaking. Integrated skills assessments have been defined in several ways (Knoch & Sitajalabhorn 2013) such as reading-into-writing performance with the reading content included in the writing or as tasks that use input, textual or visual, as stimulus for writing under the integrated umbrella (Plakans 2013). Even with these multiple interpretations questions arise: ‘Is that all?’ ‘Is there more to integration?’

Prediction of invasive species distributions from survey data is widely recognized as a significant component of forest management and conservation planning. Leucaena leucocephala is the most aggressive invasive shrub and tree in the Hengchun peninsula in southern Taiwan. We analyzed geo-referenced data to identify potential variables of invasion and to predict likelihood of further invasion using boosted regression trees. Our results, which classified 92% of the cells correctly with regard to species presence and absence, indicated probability of invasion is correlated with climatic conditions (temperature and precipitation), landscape features (altitude; slope ratio and aspect; percentages of natural or secondary forest, agriculture land, developed area, and water bodies; and distances to the nearest forest edge and river), and anthropogenic factors (length of forest edge, and distances to the nearest road and agriculture land). The most influential variables are average annual temperature, altitude, precipitation, and slope. Continued range expansion by L. leucocephala is most likely to proceed (1) from the eastern and western portions toward the central portion of Hengchun township and (2) throughout the southern and toward the eastern portions of Manjhou township. Our model should provide useful information to aid forest managers in the development of long term monitoring and control strategies for L. leucocephala, in the early detection and eradication of newly established invasions, and also a framework for the integration and analysis of new presence and absence field data as they become available.

Hsu W-Y, Chiu N-Y, Liu J-T, Wang C-H, Chang T-G, Liao Y-C, Kuo P-I. Sleep quality in heroin addicts under methadone maintenance treatment.

Background: Sleep disturbance is a common phenomenon among opiate addicts. The side effects of opiate addiction or opiate withdrawal might result in sleep disturbance. However, their problems might be related to sedative medication abuse, alcohol abuse or heroin relapse. Sleep is an important issue in this population.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of sleep disorders in heroin addicts receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and analyse the correlation between related factors, such as age at opiate exposure, opiate exposure duration, duration in MMT, methadone current dosage, methadone attendance rate and the severity of sleep disorders.

Method: We enrolled 121 heroin addicts who were receiving MMT. We collected data on the duration of insomnia, hypnotic history, Visual Analogue Scale-10 of sleep quality, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), methadone dosage, methadone history and opiate history.

Results: The mean of the PSQI was 9.1 ± 5.4, and 70.2% of patients had PSQI scores >5, indicating they were poor sleepers. We also found the PSQI scores were correlated significantly with the methadone dosage.

Conclusions: The sleep disturbance prevalence rate of opiate addicts under MMT was high in Taiwan, as shown in the previous studies, and the severity of sleep disturbance has been underestimated.

The present study investigated dietary intake, glucose metabolism and sex hormones in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A total of forty-five women (aged 25–40 years) with PCOS and 161 control women (aged 25–43 years) with non-PCOS-related infertility were recruited. Anthropometry, glucose tolerance and sex hormones were determined and dietary intake was assessed. Women with PCOS had lower serum sex hormone-binding globulin and increased BMI, waist:hip ratio, luteinising hormone, ratio of luteinising hormone:follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone and free androgen index (FAI). Postprandial glucose, fasting insulin and insulin resistance were elevated in women with PCOS. Women with PCOS had reduced energy and carbohydrate intake but higher fat intake. Serum sex hormone-binding globulin level was negatively associated with BMI in both groups and negatively correlated with macronutrient intake in the PCOS group with hyperandrogenism. However, FAI was positively correlated with BMI, waist circumference and glucose metabolic parameters in both groups. Therefore, women with PCOS consume lower energy and carbohydrate compared with those with non-PCOS-related infertility and macronutrient intake is only negatively associated with serum sex hormone-binding globulin level in the PCOS group with hyperandrogenism.

Subcutaneous (s.c.) d-galactose (DG) treatment has been shown to facilitate the development of biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in C57BL/6J mice. The aim of the present study was to determine whether this treatment in young BALB/cJ mice, another mouse strain, enhanced oxidative stress to similar extents shown in older mice, and to further determine the effects of fructo-oligosaccharide (FO), a prebiotic fibre and vitamin E (antioxidant control) on the DG-induced oxidative damage of lipids, proteins and mitochondrial DNA, and erythrocyte antioxidant enzyme activities. Mice (12 weeks of age, n 40) were divided into four groups: vehicle (s.c. saline)+control (modified rodent chow); DG (s.c. 1·2 g/kg body weight)+control; DG+FO (5 %, w/w); DG+vitamin E (α-tocopherol, 0·2 %). Then, the animals were killed after 52 d of treatment. Another natural ageing (NA) group without any injection was killed at 47 weeks of age, which served as an aged control. The results indicated that the DG treatment enhanced malonaldehyde dimethyl acetal (MDA) levels in the plasma, liver and cerebral cortex, and protein carbonyl levels in the liver and hippocampus to similar levels shown in the NA group. FO, similar to α-tocopherol, systemically normalised DG-induced elevations in the levels of MDA in the plasma, liver and cerebral cortex, protein carbonyls in the liver and hippocampus, hepatic mitochondrial 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity. In conclusion, the s.c. DG treatment in younger BALB/cJ mice resembled the oxidative status in older mice. FO supplementation systemically prevented DG-induced oxidative stress, probably through its fermentation products and prebiotic effect.

In this paper, an integrated multifunctional biochip detection system, which we call “OBMorph“, are presented. This unique system integrates several optoelectronic-based biological diagnostic tools such as an ellipsometer, a laser Doppler vibrometer/interferometer, a SPR (surface plasmon resonance) analyzer, an interference microscope, a photon tunneling microscope, an optical coherence tomography unit and a confocal scanning microscope. This OBMorph system, useful as a powerful optical metrology diagnostic tool, can be used at the beginning of sensor chip fabrication, on to signal detecting and monitoring, and to the final biological analysis. The principles and experimental results of this multifunctional biochip detection OBMorph system are presented.

In addition, an innovative SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus denaturing chemical compound that was derived using the OBMorph system to study biolinker fabrication in biochips, are discussed. Several testing strategies are presented herein which proves the effectiveness of the new chemical compound, biochip technology in denaturing the SARS virus. Analysis under an atomic force microscope confirms the actual breaking down of the virus treated by the chemical compound. The fundamentals of how the chemical compound denatures the virus and renders it toxicity useless, is based on principles of nanotechnology and bio-mechanics. Results from preliminary studies show that this denaturing principle can be also effective against other deadly viruses and even bacteria. Some design strategies and innovative working mechanisms derived from study of this chemical compound which can denature the SARS-CoV, are also discussed.

In this paper, a modified numerical integration scheme is presented that improves the accuracy of the numerical integration of the Galerkin weak form, within the integration cells of the analyzed domain in the element-free methods. A geometrical interpretation of the Gaussian quadrature rule is introduced to map the effective weighting territory of each quadrature point in an integration cell. Then, the conventional quadrature rule is extended to cover the overlapping area between the weighting territory of each quadrature point and the physical domain. This modified numerical integration scheme can lessen the errors due to misalignment between the integration cell and the boundary or interface of the physical domain. Some numerical examples illustrate that this newly proposed integration scheme for element-free methods does effectively improve the accuracy when solving solid mechanics problems.

The sintering and properties of cordierite–borosilicate glass composites were investigated. For the composites with ≥35% low-viscosity glass, the sintered densities decreased with the increasing sintering temperature above 850 °C. No crystallization of the glass was found. For the composites with 50–90 wt% high-viscosity glass, the sintered densities remained nearly constant (>95%) in a wide sintering temperature range. However, cristobalite crystallized from the glass phase, resulting in an undesirably high coefficient of thermal expansion. Presintering processing and a lower heating rate improved the densification of the composites with low-viscosity glass while limiting that of the composites with high-viscosity glass. This result is explained by the difference in crystallizability between these two glasses. As low- and high-viscosity glass powders were simultaneously added, the density reduction was reduced and the coefficient of thermal expansion was closer to that of Si because of the absence of cristobalite phase. The dielectric constant of all the composites was in the typical range of 4.9–5.7 at 1 MHz.

The critical current density Jc of bulk ceramic superconductors is often several orders of magnitude lower than that of a single crystal or oriented fílm of the same material due to the weak links residing at the boundaries between single crystals within the ceramic sample. Assuming that the rate of electron transport within each single crystal is much faster than the average rate of electron transport between adjacent single crystals, a working hypothesis of Jc enhancement by granular reorientation is formulated which includes the“brickwall”model and melt-texturing as special cases with long-range granular alignment which usually leads to rigid and brittle bulk samples. Simple geometric considerations show that only short-range local granular alignment is necessary for high Jc. For mis reason, it should be possible to make flexible superconducting wires and tapes for commercial applications at or above 77K.