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Copyright of Chinese Journal of Psychology is the property of Wu-Nan Book Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Infant massage is a natural way for caregivers to improve health, sleep patterns, and reduce colic. We aimed to investigate the effects of infant massage on neonates with jaundice who are also receiving phototherapy. Methods: Full-term neonates with jaundice, admitted for phototherapy at a regional teaching hospital, were randomly allocated to either a control group or a massage group. The medical information for each neonate, including total feeding amount, body weight, defecation frequency, and bilirubin level, was collected and compared between two groups. Results: A total of 56 patients were enrolled in the study. This included 29 neonates in the control group and 27 in the experimental group. On the third day, the massage group showed significantly higher defecation frequency (p = 0.045) and significantly lower bilirubin levels (p = 0.03) compared with the control group. No significant differences related to feeding amount or body weight were observed between the two groups. Conclusion: Infant massage could help to reduce bilirubin levels and increase defecation frequency in neonates receiving phototherapy for jaundice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Celiac artery compression syndrome (CACS) or median arcuate ligament (MAL) syndrome is a rare vascular disease. The clinical manifestations of CACS include the triad of postprandial pain, vomiting, and weight loss. The pathogenesis of CACS is the external compression of celiac artery by the MAL or celiac ganglion. Moreover, some authors also reported the compression with different etiologies, such as neoplasms of pancreatic head, adjacent duodenal carcinoma, vascular aneurysms, aortic dissection, or sarcoidosis. In the literature, most cases of CACS were reported from Western countries. In contrast, this disease was seldom reported in Oriental countries or regions, including Taiwan. Superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMAS) is also a rare disease characterized by compression of the third portion of the duodenum by the SMA. The clinical features of SMAS are postprandial pain, vomiting, and weight loss. To date, there are no guidelines to ensure the proper treatment of patients with CACS because of its low incidence. Thus, tailored therapy for patients with CACS remains a challenge as well as the prediction of clinical response and prognosis. The aim of our present study was to investigate the clinical features, the association with SMAS, treatments, and outcomes of patients with CACS in a single institution in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the images depicting qipao and shan clothing worn by the author's family as well as their implication to the political and social condition in Taiwan. It is stated that Taiwanese women wearing qipao are often mocked in the streets because wearing that Western dress is against the traditional rules of their society. It is explained that women are not allowed to wear the clothing because of the intention to end the relationship between Taiwan and China. However, wearing qipao even it is forbidden is purely for aesthetic reasons and not for political position or nationality.

Background/Aims: The survival rates of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were investigated over the past 20 years to clarify the long-term survival trend. Methods: A total of 11 312 patients with HCC from seven medical centers from 1986 to 2002 were included. Survival was analyzed by correlating data with the national mortality databank. Results: Multivariate analysis showed that the following factors were associated with shorter survival: male sex, younger age, hepatitis B virus, earlier year of diagnosis, alpha fetoprotein higher than 400 ng/mL, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) higher than two times the upper normal limit, higher aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/ALT ratio, central or southern Taiwan residence, and rural areas residence. Patients diagnosed during 1998–2002 showed the highest survival rate, followed by patients diagnosed during 1994–1997, 1990–1993, and 1986–1989, respectively. Conclusions: There are geographic variations in the survival rates of patients with HCC. Survival has been improving gradually over the past 20 years, probably due to earlier detection of HCC or to improved patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ordinary kriging method, a geostatistical interpolation technique, was applied for developing contour maps of design storm depth in northern Taiwan using intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) data. Results of variogram modelling on design storm depths indicate that the design storms can be categorized into two distinct storm types: (i) storms of short duration and high spatial variation and (ii) storms of long duration and less spatial variation. For storms of the first category, the influence range of rainfall depth decreases when the recurrence interval increases, owing to the increasing degree of their spatial independence. However, for storms of the second category, the influence range of rainfall depth does not change significantly and has an average of approximately 72 km. For very extreme events, such as events of short duration and long recurrence interval, we do not recommend usage of the established design storm contours, because most of the interstation distances exceed the influence ranges. Our study concludes that the influence range of the design storm depth is dependent on the design duration and recurrence interval and is a key factor in developing design storm contours. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies processes of financial liberalization in Taiwan. Effects of financial liberalization on economic growth; Overview of the country's financial markets; Financial liberalization measures in the foreign exchange market, banking sector and securities market.

This paper considers the effect of financial liberalization on aggregate consumption, with a special focus on Taiwan, which has sustained a high savings rate and a rapid rate of economic growth under financial dualism, but has undertaken financial liberalization since the 1980s, leading to an expansion of the formal financial sector. The paper finds that, because of an active informal financial sector, consumers in Taiwan are less credit constrained than in other developing countries. However, the expansion of the formal financial sector has contributed to some relaxation of consumer credit constraints and thereby changes in the income and interest elasticities of consumption. It also has brought about a higher consumption growth rate, offsetting at least partially the positive growth effect of financial liberalization, which helps improve the efficiency in finanacial intermediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liriope spicata is a well-known herb in traditional Chinese medicine, and its root has been clinically demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of metabolic and neural disorders. The constituents isolated from Liriope have also recently been shown to possess anticancer activity, although the mechanism of which remains largely unknown. Here, we illustrate the anticancer activity of LPRP-9, one of the active fractions we fractionated from the Liriope platyphylla root part (LPRP) extract. Treatment with LPRP-9 significantly inhibited proliferation of cancer cell lines MCF-7 and Huh-7 and down-regulated the phosphorylation of AKT LPRP-9 also activates the stress-activated MPAK, JNK, p38 pathways, the p53 cell-cycle checkpoint pathway, and a series of caspase cascades while downregulating expression of antiapoptotic factors Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and survivin. Such activities strongly suggest a role for LPRP-9 in apoptosis and autophagy We further purified and identified the compound (-)-Liriopein B from LPRP-9, which is capable of inhibiting AKT phosphorylation at low concentration. The overall result highlights the anticancer property of LPRP-9, suggests its mechanism for inhibition of proliferation and promotion of cell death for cancer cells via regulation of multitarget pathways, and denotes the importance of purifying components of fraction LPRP-9 to aid cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]