Objective: To investigate the incidence of skin changes at life's end (SCALE) among hospice patients and identify associated factors.
Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective chart review of demographic data, medical history, Braden Scale assessment scores, Charlson Comorbidity Index, symptom records, and medical treatments of patients admitted to a local teaching hospital's hospice unit between May 2019 and April 2021.
Results: Most (79%) of the 300 hospice patients included in the study had cancer.
Whereas cognitive models of learning often assume direct experience with both the features of an event and with a true label or outcome, much of everyday learning arises from hearing the opinions of others, without direct access to either the experience or the ground-truth outcome. We consider how people can learn which opinions to trust in such scenarios by extending the hedge algorithm: a classic solution for learning from diverse information sources. We first introduce a semi-supervised variant we call the delusional hedge capable of learning from both supervised and unsupervised experiences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPbZrTiO cubes with tunable sizes and cuboids have been hydrothermally synthesized. PbZrTiO cubes with three different Zr : Ti atomic percentages were also prepared. Analysis of synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveals the presence of two lattice components for these samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe introduce a 39-year-old man with an exceedingly large adrenal schwannoma who visited our outpatient department with epigastric pain and a palpable mass in the left upper abdomen. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a giant cystic lesion measuring >25 cm. Laparotomy was performed for tumor excision and partial nephrectomy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fatigue during the acute phase of dengue infection can persist as post-infectious fatigue (PIF), potentially impacting quality of life. We aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of fatigue and PIF among dengue patients.
Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered in the PROSPERO (CRD42024543058).
Anal Chim Acta
February 2025
Background: Trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) and its highly soluble carboxyl complexes, often discharged into the environment by industries such as electroplating, leather tanning, and textile manufacturing, present severe risks to human health and ecosystems due to their high toxicity. These compounds are notoriously difficult to detect and remove during wastewater treatment, as they can persist in aqueous environments. Consequently, there is a pressing need for the development of simple, cost-effective, and reliable methods for their detection, which can improve monitoring, facilitate timely interventions, and enhance environmental protection efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlasmodium, the causative agents of malaria, are obtained by mosquitoes from an infected human. Following Plasmodium acquisition by Anopheles gambiae, mosquito gamma-interferon-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (mosGILT) plays a critical role in its subsequent sporogony in the mosquito. A critical location for this development is the midgut, a tissue we show expresses mosGILT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTaiwan J Obstet Gynecol
January 2025
Objective: To describe a rare case of a retroperitoneal Müllerian cyst in a teenage girl with a protruding uterus and associated urogenital anomalies, and to discuss the challenges faced in differential diagnosis and management of such cases.
Case Report: We present the case of a 14-year-old girl presented with a protruding uterus for several weeks, with a history of twin-twin transfusion syndrome at birth. Initial ultrasonography identified a large pelvic cystic tumor.
Purpose: To perform risk assessment and analysis of potential infection during stomatology workflow in a hospital in the context of a major infectious disease outbreak, and to determine the key failure modes and measures to prevent and control infection.
Method: Following the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) method based on the stomatology workflow, the opinions of 30 domain-experts in related fields were collected through questionnaires to determine all potential failure modes in the severity (S), occurrence (O), and detectability (D) dimensions. The group score was then integrated through the median method and the risk priority number (RPN) was obtained.
This study set out to characterise the in vitro development, including musculature, of the microphallid parasite of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides (Linnaeus, 1767), Maritrema gratiosum Nicoll, 1907 collected in Scotland. An in vitro culture model was developed to obtain ovigerous adults of M. gratiosum and their morphology was observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF, a major opportunistic pathogen, causes severe infections in both community and healthcare settings, especially in intensive care units (ICUs), where multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains, such as carbapenem-resistant (CRKP), pose significant treatment challenges. The rise in hypervirulent (hvKP) with enhanced virulence factors complicates management further. The ST11 clone, prevalent in China, exhibits both resistance and virulence traits, contributing to hospital outbreaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmunogenic cell death (ICD) spatiotemporally regulates damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) derived from dying cancer cells to signal the immune response. Intriguingly, these DAMPs and cytokines also induce cellular responses in non-immune cells, particularly cancer cells. Several ICD-modulating natural products and miRNAs have been reported to regulate the DAMP, cytokine, and cell death responses, but they lack systemic organization and connection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement (Amst)
January 2025
Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) involves neuroinflammation and amyloid plaque deposition, yet the role of amyloid-reactive immune response in neurodegeneration remains unclear. We investigate amyloid-reactive T cell levels in the Epidemiology of Mild Cognitive Impairment Study in Taiwan (EMCIT) and Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (TPMIC) cohorts.
Method: Using diverse amyloid peptide formulations, we established a polyfunctionality assay for five T cell functions and compared mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients to control subjects in both cohorts.
Background: Tenofovir-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART) improves survival in HBV-coinfected people with HIV (PWH). We investigated the incidence of HDV infection and its clinical impact in HBV-coinfected PWH in the era of tenofovir-containing ART.
Methods: Between 2011 and 2022, HBV-coinfected PWH were included and followed until December 2023.
The substitution of bisphenol A (BPA) with structurally similar analogs has raised concerns due to their comparable estrogenic activities. Considering the high consumption of plant-based foods, assessing the risks posed by bisphenols (BPs) in such dietary sources is essential. However, limited exposure and animal toxicological data on BP analogs hinder comprehensive risk assessments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of ovarian sensitivity index (OSI) and clinical parameters in IVF treatments.
Methods: IVF data files between January 2011 and December 2020 in a single unit were included. The primary outcome measure was the correlation between the OSI and clinical pregnancy and live birth rates.
Background: Acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKIs) remains a significant hurdle for patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly those lacking the EGFR. IMpower 150 study demonstrated promising efficacy for a combination of immune-chemotherapy and bevacizumab in patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC.
Methods: This open-label, single-arm, phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and immune cell profile of the modified regimen combining atezolizumab, bevacizumab (7.
Background: Heart failure is a serious and common condition that has garnered significant attention in the global public health domain. It often results in impaired function and reduced cardiac function status, leading to difficulties in self-care and diminished quality of life. To effectively address these complex challenges, the collaborative health care model has been proposed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Nursing staff need to be constantly exposed to information systems at work and encounter patients who share medical data obtained from the internet; this was widely observed during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Hence, nursing staff should have the necessary skills and education that can help them develop nursing students' informatics competencies. However, research on assessing and improving nursing students' informatics competencies remains scarce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Difficult airway management (DAM) presents a complex array of challenges inherent in establishing and maintaining a patient's airway during medical procedures or emergencies. Consequences of compromised DAM are profound, ranging from hypoxia, and aspiration, to cardiac arrest. Despite the ongoing progress and innovation in airway management, DAM remains a significant clinical challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHumans may inevitably be exposed to nanoplastics (NPls) through ingestion. The size of NPls significantly influences their absorption efficiency, so understanding behaviors of NPls during digestion is vital for risk assessment. In this study, fluorescent polystyrene (PS) and melamine-formaldehyde resin (MF) NPls were characterized by different techniques after the in vitro digestion process both with and without a standard food model, or with and without pH adjustment in the absence of the proteins.
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