Decision difficulties of long-term-care facility nurses in transferring residents to the emergency department: A cross-sectional nationwide study.

Aims: To examine the level of decision difficulties of long-term-care facility (LTCF) nurses when transferring residents to the emergency department (ED) and associated influencing factors.

Design: A cross-sectional nationwide study.

Methods: The LTCFs were selected through random stratified sampling across the whole Taiwan during February 2018 to January 2019.

Clinical observation of the effect of prophylaxis on allodynia in patients with migraine.

Objective: The clinical characteristics of migraine with and without allodynia were compared to evaluate the risk factors of cutaneous allodynia in migraine. The effects of prophylactic therapy on allodynia in patients with migraine were assessed based on the change in pain threshold after therapy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 71 patients with migraine admitted to the Department of Neurology of Shandong Provincial Hospital were recruited in this study.

Effects of Background Lighting Color and Movement Distance on Reaching Times Among Participants With Low Vision, Myopia, and Normal Vision.

This study investigated the effects of target distance (30, 35, and 40 cm) and the color of background lighting (red, green, blue, and yellow) on the duration of movements made by participants with low vision, myopia, and normal vision while performing a reaching task; 48 students (21 women, 27 men; M age = 21.8 year, SD = 2.4) participated in the study.

Protective effect of neovibsanin B on spatial cognitive functions of rats with cerebrovascular hypoperfusion.

Neovibsanins are believed to be promising candidates for the development of novel therapeutic agents to treat neurological diseases like Alzheimer's disease. It has been shown that chronic cerebral hypoperfusion is linked to neurodegenerative disorders and their subsequent cognitive impairment. In the present study effect of neovibsanin B (NVB) on spatial cognitive functions of rats with lobal cerebrovascular hypoperfusion was investigated.

Effects of pregabalin on central sensitization in patients with migraine.

Purpose: Despite the fact that the most recently articulated theory of migraine is the central sensitization hypothesis, few basic and clinical research studies on central sensitization have been conducted in patients with migraine. Here, we aim to reveal the risk factors of migraine with allodynia and to illustrate the effects of pregabalin on alleviating allodynia.

Methods: 63 migraine patients meeting the International Headache Society criteria were prospectively included.

Automatic cell segmentation and nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio analysis for third harmonic generated microscopy medical images.

Traditional biopsy procedures require invasive tissue removal from a living subject, followed by time-consuming and complicated processes, so noninvasive in vivo virtual biopsy, which possesses the ability to obtain exhaustive tissue images without removing tissues, is highly desired. Some sets of in vivo virtual biopsy images provided by healthy volunteers were processed by the proposed cell segmentation approach, which is based on the watershed-based approach and the concept of convergence index filter for automatic cell segmentation. Experimental results suggest that the proposed algorithm not only reveals high accuracy for cell segmentation but also has dramatic potential for noninvasive analysis of cell nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio (NC ratio), which is important in identifying or detecting early symptoms of diseases with abnormal NC ratios, such as skin cancers during clinical diagnosis via medical imaging analysis.

Dexamethasone enhances cell resistance to chemotherapy by increasing adhesion to extracellular matrix in human ovarian cancer cells.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used as co-medication in the therapy of solid malignant tumors to relieve some of the side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs. However, recent studies have shown that GCs could render cancer cells more resistant to cytotoxic drug-induced apoptosis, but the mechanism is largely unknown. In the present study, we found that the treatment of human ovarian cancer cell lines HO-8910 and SKOV3 with synthetic GCs dexamethasone (Dex) significantly increased their adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) and their resistance to apoptosis induced by cytotoxic drugs cisplatin and paclitaxel.

[Comparative study of mannitol-induced acute kidney impairments in patients of different ages suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhage].

Objective: To analyze and compare the clinical characteristics of mannitol-induced acute renal function impairment in treatment of patients of different ages suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) for the first time.

Methods: This study was a review of 1 361 patients with available hospital records admitted to the division of neurology due to SAH from February 1989 to December 2005. Among them, 94 patients had acute renal function impairment as a result of mannitol administration.

Use of the WHOQOL-BREF for evaluating persons with traumatic brain injury.

This study examined psychometric properties of a brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) among persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the relations of the WHOQOL-BREF domains, including physical capacity, psychological wellbeing, social relationships, and environment, to different indicators of TBI severity. Of the 354 eligible and available subjects from 22 hospitals in northern Taiwan over a 6-month period, 199 completed telephone interviews during data collection. Three indicators of TBI severity were used: the Glasgow Coma Scale, the presence of post-traumatic amnesia, and the abbreviated injury scale to the head.

Current experiences in the use of the severe head-injury guidelines in Taiwan.

Background: Head injury is the leading cause of death and disability for patients who experienced a major accident. It has been suggested that a well-planned neurointensive care management can effectively reduce the secondary brain insults. The BTF and the AANS proposed the Guidelines for the Management of Severe Head Injury in 1995.

Up-regulation of RhoB by glucocorticoids and its effects on the cell proliferation and NF-kappaB transcriptional activity.

Although there is ample evidence that glucocorticoids (GCs) have an antiproliferative effect on many cell types, the molecular mechanism remains elusive. We reported in our previous study that Dex treatment led to cell growth arrest in a human ovarian cancer cell HO-8910. RhoB, as a member of Rho GTPases, have been implicated to be a negative regulator of cell proliferation.

[Correlation of changes of peripheral benzodiazepine receptors in hippocampus synaptosomes with cognitive impairment: experiment with D-galactose-induced senescent rats].

Objective: To investigate the effects of peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) in hippocampus synaptosomes on spatial learning and memory.

Methods: Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats of both sexes were randomly divided into 2 equal groups: D-galactose-treated group, receiving subcutaneous injection of D-galactose 100 mg/kg once a day for 56 days, and normal saline (NS) control group, receiving comparable injections of NS. Spatial learning and memory were assessed by Morris water maze test for 5 days.

Sociodemographic, knowledge, and attitudinal factors related to meat consumption in the United States.

Objective: To provide information about meat consumption and factors that explain differences among subpopulations, and to evaluate how knowledge and attitudes about nutrition and awareness of diet and health influence meat consumption.

Design: The 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals provided two nonconsecutive 24-hour recalls. The Diet and Health Knowledge Survey was administered at least 1 week after the last 24-hour recall.

Intranasal delivery of nerve growth factor to protect the central nervous system against acute cerebral infarction.

Objective: To confirmed reliability and feasibility of intranasal nerve growth factor (NGF) bypassing the blood-brain barrier and its potential neuroprotective effects on acute cerebral ischemia.

Methods: (1) To assay NGF concentrations in different brain regions after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Rats were randomly divided into intranasal (i.