S. paucimobilis can cause infections in healthy as well as immunocompromised individuals. Although it is an organism of low clinical virulence, infection caused by S. paucimobilis can lead to septic shock. Further clinical research is required to characterize this infection.

A review work is done for the electronic and optical properties of graphene nanoribbons in magnetic, electric, composite, and modulated fields. Effects due to the lateral confinement, curvature, stacking, non-uniform subsystems and hybrid structures are taken into account. The special electronic properties, induced by complex competitions between external fields and geometric structures, include many one-dimensional parabolic subbands, standing waves, peculiar edge-localized states, width- and field-dependent energy gaps, magnetic-quantized quasi-Landau levels, curvature-induced oscillating Landau subbands, crossings and anti-crossings of quasi-Landau levels, coexistence and combination of energy spectra in layered structures, and various peak structures in the density of states. There exist diverse absorption spectra and different selection rules, covering edge-dependent selection rules, magneto-optical selection rule, splitting of the Landau absorption peaks, intragroup and intergroup Landau transitions, as well as coexistence of monolayer-like and bilayer-like Landau absorption spectra. Detailed comparisons are made between the theoretical calculations and experimental measurements. The predicted results, the parabolic subbands, edge-localized states, gap opening and modulation, and spatial distribution of Landau subbands, have been identified by various experimental measurements.

Optical selection rules for one-dimensional graphene nanoribbons are explored based on the tight-binding model. A theoretical explanation, through analyzing the velocity matrix elements and the features of the wavefunctions, can account for the selection rules, which depend on the edge structure of the nanoribbon, i.e., armchair or zigzag edges. The selection rule of armchair nanoribbons is ΔJ = Jc - Jv = 0, and the optical transitions occur from the conduction to the valence subbands of the same index. Such a selection rule originates in the relationships between two sublattices and between the conduction and valence subbands. On the other hand, zigzag nanoribbons exhibit the selection rule |ΔJ| = odd, which results from the alternatively changing symmetry property as the subband index increases. Furthermore, an efficient theoretical prediction on transition energies is obtained by the application of selection rules, and the energies of the band-edge states become experimentally attainable via optical measurements.

Escherichia coli producing the highly virulent, multidrug-resistant, CTX-M-15 extended-spectrum ␤-lactamase (ESBL), sequence type 131 (ST131), has emerged on three continents since the late 2000s. We described the molecular epidemiology, clinical features, and outcome of ESBL-producing E. coli bacteremia in Taiwan Independent risk factors predicting mortality at day 28 included malignancy, shock, and hospital-acquired bacteremia. In ESBLproducing E. coli bloodstream infections, the ST131 clone was not associated with health-care-associated risk factors, such as urinary catheter use or antibiotic exposure. Although highly virulent and multidrug resistant, the ST131 clone was not associated with higher mortality than non-ST131 clones. Between 2000 and 2006, Escherichia coli clone O25:H4-ST131, which produces CTX-M-15 extended-spectrum ␤-lactamase (ESBL), was identified on three continents and later found to be widespread in Europe, Australia, and the United States of America (6,11,13,17,19,22,24). The sequence type 131 (ST131) strain was associated with high, homogenous, extraintestinal virulence and multidrug resistance (6,11,13,17,19,22,24). Virulence gene analysis indicated that clone ST131 strains were more likely than non-ST131 strains to possess traT, iutA, iha, ompT, fimH, malX, fyuA, kpsM, or sat genes (6, 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, 24). Pulsotype analysis revealed that CTX-M-15 ST131 clones were usually approximately 85% similar (6,11,13,17,19,22,24).According to the published literature, most ST131 clones have been identified as a result of urine culture surveillance, and a few have been isolated from individuals with bacteremia. ST131 clones have been observed in the community, hospitals, and nursing homes (6,11,13,17,19,22,24) as well as in companion animals and poultry (23). In a French study, ST131 isolates were found in 7% of fecal E. coli isolates from independent healthy subjects and were unaccompanied by the CTX-M enzyme (14). However, several case reports have shown that ST131 clones can present in cases of severe infection, such as pyomyositis, emphysematous pyelonephritis, and other life-threatening infections (10,18,28). Only two cohorts with ST131 ESBL E. coli bacteremia have been reported in the literature. In these two ESBL E. coli bacteremia series, ST131 was found in 34% of isolates in the Netherlands (27) and 31.3% of isolates in Calgary, Canada (21). In Calgary's ESBL E. coli bacteremia cohort (21), ST131 isolates producing CTX-M-15 became predominant from 2005 to 2007 and were associated with community-onset infection and urosepsis. However, the detailed demographic features, clinical syndromes, and outcomes in these two cohorts of patients with ESBL E. coli bacteremia in clone ST131 are lacking. In previous risk factor analyses, ESBL E. coli infection was more closely associated with antibiotic use, comorbidity, and urinary catheter use than non-ESBL E. coli infection (2, 9, 15). We did not know whether ST131 clones were associated with the same risk factors as previous traditional ESBL E...

Our study demonstrated a high prevalence of HCV infection among HIV-infected IDUs in Taiwan, with a predominance of infection due to genotypes 1a, 6a, and 3a, as a result of the impact of IDUs' behavior and their drug trafficking route. Our study revealed that HCV infection in IDUs originated from a geographically large transmission network that was mainly distinct from that associated with other HCV-infected individuals; this transmission network has also been documented in association with HIV infection in IDUs.

No abstract

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis in humans after ingestion of raw or inadequately cooked intermediate hosts or food contaminated with infective third-stage larvae. Frogs are known to be a paratenic host of A. cantonensis, but have never been reported as the infectious source of human angiostrongyliasis in Taiwan. We report the first case of eosinophilic meningitis caused by A. cantonensis after ingestion of raw frogs (Rana plancyi).

In southern Taiwan, acute Q fever is the most common rickettsiosis. QSM diseases should be suspected in febrile patients who present with relative bradycardia, hepatomegaly, and elevated serum aminotransferases, but without leukocytosis.