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The paper discusses the music group ‘Blacklist Production’ (also known as Blacklist Studio) that was established in the late 1980s when the Martial Law was lifted in Taiwan, and the group’s original works of music. It investigates the music composition and thinking process of Wang Ming-hui, the founder of Blacklist Production, and analyses two albums produced by the music studio,Songs of Madness(1989) andLullaby(1996), as a way of reconsidering and reflecting the feeling process and limitations of the nativist ideology from 1989 to 1996 that took shape in Taiwan’s society. In addition, the paper also explores Wang’s musical practices through which he has tried to answer the question of ‘how to express thoughts with music’. Through the historical analysis of musical works and interviews with Wang Ming-hui, the paper suggests that ‘Taiwan’s New Music Production’ brought up and practiced by Wang and Blacklist Production is embedded with the possibility for Taiwan’s culture and imagination of modernity to ‘turn’ the referent point to the Third World/Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Nurses affect patient safety. Although studies have associated patient safety with nurse staffing levels, Taiwan's Department of Health does not yet support changing nurse workforce standards for medical institutions. Purpose: This study was designed to gain insight into the workload of nurses employed at medical institutions and to determine the relationship between nurse workload and nurse-sensitive patient safety outcome indicators. Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional quantitative method and collected data using a self-designed logbook. The study population comprised nurses from acute medical institutions, including medical centers and regional and district hospitals. One thousand five hundred logbooks were distributed to participants selected by random sampling from 21 city/county nursing associations across Taiwan. One thousand three hundred seventy-three questionnaires were retrieved; the 1,358 valid responses yielded a valid response rate of 90.5%. Nurses ¡ used the logbook to record individual working conditions for 2 weeks. Descriptive statistics included mean values, standard deviations, and percentages; inferential statistics included the Spearman rho correlation and odds ratios. Results: Nurse overtime working hours were positively associated with the following nurse-sensitive patient safety outcome indicators: patient falls, decubitus/pressure ulcers, near errors in medication, medication errors, unplanned extubation, hospital- acquired pneumonia, and hospital-acquired urinary tract infections; risks of patient falls, decubitus/pressure ulcers, unplanned extubation, hospital-acquired pneumonia, and hospital-acquired urinary tract infections significantly increased when the patient- nurse ratio exceeded 7:1. Conclusion: Nurse workforce and nurse-sensitive patient outcome indicators are positively correlated. The results of this study will help professional nursing groups define suitable nursing workforce standards for medical institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of ertapenem-resistant (ETP-R) Klebsiella pneumoniaeisolates at a Taiwanese hospital. The disk-diffusion tests revealed that the rate of ertapenem resistance among all isolates collected in 2008 was 13.5%, and the resistance rate among bloodstream isolates increased from 0% to 13.6% between 2001 and 2008. Eighty-two nonduplicate ETP-R isolates collected in 2008 were examined. Seventy-four (90.2%) isolates of them had extended-spectrum β-lactamases (CTX-M- and SHV-type), AmpC enzymes (DHA-1 and CMY-2), and IMP-8 metallo-β-lactamase alone or in combination, and an extremely high prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance (95.1%) and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants (90.2%) were also observed. Eighteen ETP-R but imipenem-susceptible isolates were selected and compared with 18 imipenem-nonsusceptible isolates collected before 2008. Sequence analyses revealed genetic disruptions of OmpK36 in 11 imipenem-nonsusceptible and 6 imipenem-susceptible isolates, respectively, and OmpK35 disruptions in 10 isolates for both groups. For the isolates with intact ompK36, sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis suggests decreased expression of OmpK36 in 5 of 7 imipenem-nonsusceptible isolates and 3 of 12 imipenem-susceptible isolates. In conclusion, the increasing prevalence of ertapenem resistance that was predominantly attributed to noncarbapenemase-mediated resistance mechanisms in K. pneumoniaeis becoming a serious treat to patients in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The “Enrichment Program for Cultivating Problem Solving Abilities and Multiple Intelligences for Gifted Preschoolers” (PSMIGP program) was the first enrichment program for young gifted children in Taiwan. It was an extra-curricular program that was implemented over a 3-year period. The assessment and curriculum were designed by adapting the main part of the DISCOVER curriculum. The purpose of this paper was to introduce the identification model and to analyze the participants'' performance in problem solving activities and in demonstrating their special talents. To offer enrichment services for gifted young children, the researchers developed an identification model to discover more young gifted children and serve their needs in learning, regardless of the nature of their talents, disabilities, or cultural or socio-economical status. All participating young children were screened in a three-stage process that included both objective and subjective assessments, including checklists, interviews, portfolio assessment, group intelligence tests, observation in the play corner, individual intelligence tests, and structured observation activities. It was also necessary to adjust the standardized test procedure to fit the needs of twice exceptional young children. In total there were sixty-one preschoolers participated in this three-year program, including eleven twice exceptional children and one child from a new immigrant home. Among these sixty-one preschoolers, eight of them participated in two years of the program; the others only participated in one year of the program. The results of this enrichment program found significant correlations among the measurement scores; the scores of teacher assessment of problem solving abilities also showed that most students performed well on all five kinds of problem solving types. From children''s archives, participating children presented scientific thinking characteristics, such as rich knowledge with fascinating imagination and the ability to seek many approaches to solving problems. They were delighted to challenge others and pleased to be challenged. The twice exceptional children also performed well in the program, especially those children with autism whose progress in social skills and group adaptability were remarkable. In sum, the researchers in this program had a belief that children, whether gifted or not, did not get the satisfaction of making progress until they had opportunities to find and develop their potentials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the effects of corticosteroid injection with lidocaine injection in treating tennis elbow. Design: It is a prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Patients with tennis elbow for more than 1 mo were recruited from a hospital-based rehabilitation outpatient clinic. A total of 70 patients were recruited, and 61 patients completed the study. Patients received an injection of either 10 mg (1 ml) of triamcinolone (corticosteroid group, n = 30) or 1 ml of 1% lidocaine (lidocaine group, n = 31). All of the outcome measures were evaluated before the intervention and at 2 wks and 2 mos after treatment. Results: No significant group differences were observed between the corticosteroid and lidocaine groups regarding Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation, Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand, visual analog scale for pain, and grip strength at baseline and at 2 wks and 2 mos after treatment (P > 0.05). However, within-group comparison showed significant improvement after injection with regard to Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation, Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand, visual analog scale for pain, and grip strength in both groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: No differences in the short-term outcomes were found between lidocaine and corticosteroid injection in a small sample of people with tennis elbow with mean duration of 3.8 mos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avoparcin, a vancomycin analogue, was banned as a feed additive in Taiwan in 2000. A nationwide surveillance was conducted to study the prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) on chicken farms between 2000 and 2003. Among the 1021 E. faecalis and 967 E. faecium isolates studied, resistance to tetracycline, erythromycin, high-level aminoglycosides, ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol either increased or remained high except vancomycin. The proportion of VRE decreased, between 2000 and 2003, from 13.7% (22/161) to 3.7% (11/299) for E. faecalis, and 3.4% (4/119) to 0% (0/300) for E. faecium. Only 8.8% (7/80) of the chicken farms surveyed harboured VRE in 2003 compared with 25% (15/60) in 2000. All VRE were resistant to tetracycline and erythromycin. All VRE possess the vanA gene but nearly all (79 of 83 isolates) were susceptible to teicoplanin, indicating VanB phenotype. Some clones were detected from different farms in various regions over the years. We conclude that the frequency of VRE in chicken farms decreased in association with a ban on avoparcin; and the continued presence of VRE may be due to the ability of some strains to persist in the farms, transfer of vancomycin resistance determinants or co-selection by the continued use of other antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]