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Background Norovirus (NoV) GII.4 is the most common genotype for norovirus gastroenteritis worldwide. New variants or subgenotypes are continuously emerging, thus posing a serious threat to child health. Methods We compared retrospectively the clinical manifestations and complications of norovirus gastroenteritis in children from April, 2004 through December, 2012. NoV variants were analyzed to investigate the association of circulating viral strains with the complications. A modified disease severity score system based on Vesikari score system was devised and to evaluate disease severity. Results Compared to the outbreak in 2004/2005 winter, significant higher incidence of complications in the later periods are: convulsive disorder (p 39 °C, p = 0.001) in 2011/2012 winter. GII.4 Den_Haag_2006b, GII.4 2010, GII.4 Sydney 2012, and GII.4 2012b were the predominant strains in the outbreaks after 2006. By the modified severity score system, severe norovirus disease occurred in 28.5 %, 32 %, 33.3 %, and 30.2 % of the patients in the four periods. A longer duration of hospitalization (p = 0.02) were found in those with high score irrespective of the year of admission. Conclusions Our study demonstrated NoV outbreaks in northern Taiwan caused by different GII.4 variants that were associated with specific complications and uncommon clinical presentations. A modified severity score system first proposed in this study was able to identify severe cases with a longer hospital stay in NoV-infected children.

The observation on the impact of constipation on nutritional and growth status in healthy children was never reported. During a 4-y period, we evaluated the consequence of constipation on growth in children. The enrolled children were aged between 1 and 15 y with constipation. Medical response of constipation to treatment was evaluated by the scoring of constipation symptoms. The correlation of therapeutic effect of constipation with growth status at 12 wk and 24 wk was statistically evaluated. About 2426 children (1284 boys, 1142 girls) with a mean age of 7.31 +/- 3.65 (range 1.1-14.9) y were enrolled. After 12-wk treatment, significant increase of z-scores of height-for-age, weight-for-age, and body mass index-for-age were all found in patients with good medical responses (1377 cases) than in those with poor medical responses (1049 cases). The 1049 patients with poor medical response received advanced medications; significant increase of z-scores of height-for-age, weight-for-age, and body mass index were also found in these patients. A marked increase of appetite was significantly correlated with better gain on height and weight after treatment. We conclude that chronic constipation may retard growth status in children, and a long-term medication for constipation in children appears beneficial to their growth status.

Thin films of luminescent CdSe nanoparticles with and without silica capping were prepared using sol-gel method. The blue shift observed in the optical absorption spectra suggested quantum confinement effect in the prepared films. The films showed photoluminescence emission in the range of 510–590 nm depending upon the particle size of CdSe particles. The emission intensity increased when CdSe particles were embedded in silica matrix. The emission intensity was found to decrease with aging for the films containing CdSe particles without silica capping when they were exposed in relatively humid air (relative humidity 80%). The films containing CdSe nanoparticles embedded in silica matrix showed more stable behavior. The emission intensity practically remained constant with aging in humid atmosphere.

This retrospective analysis of hip fracture patients with and without muscle atrophy/weakness (MAW) revealed that those with MAW had significantly higher healthcare utilization and costs compared with hip fracture patients without MAW. Examine the demographics, clinical characteristics, and healthcare resource utilization and costs of hip fracture patients with and without MAW. Using a large US claims database, individuals who were newly hospitalized for hip fracture between 1 Jan 2006 and 30 September 2009 were identified. Patients aged 50–64 years with commercial insurance (Commercial) or 65+ years with Medicare supplemental insurance (Medicare) were included. The first hospitalization for hip fracture was defined as the index stay. Patients were categorized into three cohorts: patients with medical claims associated with MAW over the 12 months before the index stay (pre-MAW), patients whose first MAW claim occurred during or over the 12 months after the index stay (post-MAW), and patients without any MAW claim (no-MAW). Multivariate regressions were performed to assess the association between MAW and healthcare costs over the 12-month post-index period, as well as the probability of re-hospitalization. There were 26,122 Medicare (pre-MAW, 839; post-MAW, 2,761; no-MAW, 22,522) and 5,100 Commercial (pre-MAW, 132; post-MAW, 394; no-MAW, 4,574) hip fracture patients included in this study. Controlling for cross-cohort differences, both the pre-MAW and post-MAW cohorts had significantly higher total healthcare costs (Medicare, $7,308 and $18,753 higher; Commercial, $18,679 and $25,495 higher) than the no-MAW cohort (all p

Objective: To study the drug resistance rates of 283 staphylococcus strains isolated from blood culture in children during 2009.06-2010.12.