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Background: Human enteroviruses contain over 100 serotypes. We have routinely conducted enterovirus surveillance in northern Taiwan; but about 10% of isolates could not be serotyped using traditional assays. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool for genome sequencing. Methods: In this study, we established an NGS platform to conduct genome sequencing for the serologically untypable enterovirus isolates. Results: Among 130 serologically untypable isolates, 121 (93%) of them were classified into 29 serotypes using CODEHOP (COnsensus-DEgenerate Hybrid Oligonucleotide Primer)-based RT-PCR to amplify VP1 genes (VP1-CODEHOP). We further selected 52 samples for NGS and identified 59 genome sequences from 51 samples, including 8 samples containing two virus genomes. We also detected 23 genome variants (nucleotide identity < 90% compared with genome sequences in the public domain) which were potential genetic recombination, including 9 inter-serotype recombinants and 14 strains with unknown sources of recombination. Conclusions: We successfully integrated VP1-CODEHOP and NGS techniques to conduct genomic analysis of serologically untypable enteroviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Currently, Taiwan's Artificial Reproduction Act denies the legality of practicing surrogacy in Taiwan. The fact that numerous intended parents access surrogacy through fertility tourism or illegal practice leads to various types of disputes. This article illustrates the types of surrogacy-related disputes in Taiwan's legal environment, which lacks all regulation of surrogacy., Materials and Methods: This study used "surrogacy" and "surrogate mother" as keywords to search for related district court civil and criminal decisions in the Law and Regulations Retrieving System maintained by the Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China. The authors read and selected decisions with true relevance to surrogacy issues, analyzed all cases, and categorized the cases according to the various types of disputes., Results: This study found 27 surrogacy cases with 62 decisions and 2 records, which were categorized into five types: 1. Fraud and forging instruments (5 cases); 2. Contract disputes (2 cases); 3. Loss of consortium and adultery (5 cases); 4. Paternity and adoption issues (16 cases); and 5. Broker and medical institution's responsibility (5 cases)., Conclusion: Many patients in Taiwan are eager to access surrogacy, but the law does not allow it. Many disputes occur simply because the law forbids surrogacy. In Taiwan's current situation, some intended parents attempt fraudulent access to surrogacy. The authors of this article urge the Taiwanese government to legalize surrogacy to resolve intended parents' difficulties and avoid numerous possible disputes., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)