A field survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in six counties of Taiwan. Spirochetes were successfully isolated from one rodent ear sample out of 485 rodent ears and 53 live, fed tick (Ixodes granulatus) samples. The spirochetes were confirmed to be B. burgdorferi s.l. by real-time PCR. In addition, 23 of 113 tick samples were tested positive for Borrelia DNA according to real-time PCR. The Borrelia isolate from the rodent and the 23 Borrelia DNA samples from the ticks were identified as B. valaisiana-related genospecies by phylogenetic analysis based on flagellin gene sequences. These findings suggest that the Borrelia valaisiana-related strains are maintained in a zoonotic cycle between tick vectors and reservoir hosts in Taiwan.

Lipoglycopeptide antibiotics, for example, teicoplanin (Tei) and A40926, are more potent than vancomycin against Gram-positive (Gram-(+)) drug-resistant pathogens, for example, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To extend their therapeutic effectiveness on vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), the biosynthetic pathway of the N-acyl glucosamine (Glc) pharmacophore at residue 4 (r4) of teicoplanin pseudoaglycone redirection to residue 6 (r6) was attempted. On the basis of crystal structures, two regioselective biocatalysts Orf2*T (a triple-mutation mutant S98A/V121A/F193Y) and Orf11*S (a single-mutation mutant W163A) were engineered, allowing them to act on GlcNAc at r6. New analogs thereby made show marked antimicrobial activity against MRSA and VRSA by 2–3 orders of magnitude better than teicoplanin and vancomycin. The lipid side chain of the Tei-analogs armed with a terminal mono- or diguanidino group extends the antimicrobial specificity from Gram-(+) to Gram-negative (Gram-(−)), comparable to that of kanamycin. In addition to low cytotoxicity and high safety, the Tei analogs exhibit new modes of action as a result of resensitization of VRSA and Acinetobacter baumannii. The redirection of the biosynthetic pathway for the N-acyl-Glc pharmacophore from r4 to r6 bodes well for large-scale production of selected r6,Tei congeners in an environmentally friendly synthetic biology approach.

This article offers a reconstruction of the life worlds of 30 adolescents, aged 9 to 18, from 20 families who have lost their fathers through death. Through interviews designed to measure the impact of culture on adolescent coping, six themes on rebuilding their lives, "no more the same," were identified: (1) isolation from death, (2) incompleteness, (3) staying inside, (4) worrying with mother, (5) building connections with fathers, and (6) restructuring the family. By exploring the lives of fatherless adolescents in Taiwan, the findings of this study illustrate a metaphor "no more the same" to represent life after father's death in such culture.