MiR-18a-LncRNA NONRATG-022419 pairs targeted PRG-1 regulates diabetic induced cognitive impairment by regulating NGF\BDNF-Trkb signaling pathway.

Background: Diabetic encephalopathy (DE) is considered as one of the complications of diabetes,which is associated with cognitive impairment in the pathological process of development. Up to now, phospholipid phosphatase related 4 (Plppr4), also known as plasticity related gene 1 (PRG-1) has been revealed its important role in neuroplasticity. However, the underlying mechanisms of Plppr4 on the basis of diabetic-induced cognitive dysfunction (DCD) are still unknown.

Effects of hospice-shared care on terminal cancer patients in Taiwan: A hospital-based observational study.

Purpose: To assess how hospice-shared care (HSC) affected the likelihood of aggressive medical treatments and the life quality among terminal cancer patients.

Methods: In the first part, a cohort of 160 late-stage cancer patients who died in non-hospice wards were identified to review their charts in their last 22 days before death. In the second part, a total of 19 late-stage cancer patients with clear consciousness admitted to non-hospice wards were identified to investigate their quality of life for the final 2 weeks before death.

The integrated analysis and underlying mechanisms of FNDC5 on diabetic induced cognitive deficits.

Objectives: Chronic hyperglycemia is considered as an important factor to promote the neurodegenerative process of brain, and the synaptic plasticity as well as heterogeneity of hippocampal cells are thought to be associated with cognitive dysfunction in the early process of neurodegeneration. To date, fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5) has been highlighted its protective role in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. However, the potential molecular and cellular mechanisms of FNDC5 on synaptic plasticity regulation in cognitive impairment (CI) induced by diabetics are still need to known.

A Review of Gap Junction Protein and its Potential Role in Nervous System-Related Disease.

Gap junction (GJ) is a special cell membrane structure composed of connexin. Connexin is widely distributed and expressed in all tissues except differentiated skeletal muscle, red blood cells, and mature sperm cells, which is related to the occurrence of many genetic diseases due to its mutation. Its function of regulating immune response, cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis makes it a therapeutic target for a variety of diseases.

Heterogeneity and synaptic plasticity analysis of hippocampus based on db mice induced diabetic encephalopathy.

Chronic hyperglycemia can cause changes in synaptic plasticity of hippocampal cells, which has accelerated the pathological process of cognitive dysfunction. However, the heterogeneity of the hippocampal cell populations under long term high glucose statement remains largely unknown. To mimic chronic hyperglycemia induced cognitive function deficit in vivo, db diabetic mice was selected and Novel Object Recognition(NOR) behavior tests were performed.

[Effect of a Simple Home-Based Oral Care Regimen on Oral Mucositis in Patients With Oral Cavity and Nasopharyngeal Cancer: A Quasi-Experimental Study].

Background: The majority of patients with oral cavity and nasopharyngeal cancer experience severe oral mucositis during concurrent radiochemotherapy. The effectiveness of routine nursing education remains limited.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a simple home-based oral care regimen on oral mucositis.

Association between changes in body fat and disease progression after breast cancer surgery is moderated by menopausal status.

Background: Obesity is linked to poor disease outcomes in breast cancer patients. However, this link was mostly based on body weight or BMI rather than body-fat. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body-fat gain and disease progression in Taiwanese women after breast cancer surgery and how this relationship is influenced by menopausal status.

A Decade of Changes in Family Caregivers' Preferences for Life-Sustaining Treatments for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients at End of Life in the Context of a Family-Oriented Society.

Context: Temporal changes in different family caregiver cohorts' preferences for life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) at end of life (EOL) have not been examined nor have the concept of whether caregivers' LST preferences represent a homogeneous or heterogeneous construct. Furthermore, LST preferences are frequently assessed from multiple treatments, making clinical applications difficult/infeasible.

Objectives: To identify parsimonious patterns and changes in the pattern of LST preferences for two independent cohorts of family caregivers for terminally ill Taiwanese cancer patients.

A Decade of Changes in Preferences for Life-Sustaining Treatments Among Terminally Ill Patients With Cancer.

Background: Changes over time in preferences for life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) at end of life (EOL) in different patient cohorts are not well established, nor is the concept that LST preferences represent more than 2 groups (uniformly prefer/not prefer).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore heterogeneity and changes in patterns of LST preferences among 2 independent cohorts of terminally ill patients with cancer recruited a decade apart.

Methods: Preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intensive care unit care, cardiac massage, intubation with mechanical ventilation, intravenous nutritional support, nasogastric tube feeding, and dialysis were surveyed among 2,187 and 2,166 patients in 2003-2004 and 2011-2012, respectively.

Characteristics and Correlates of Increasing Use of Surgery in Taiwanese Cancer Patients' Last Month of Life, 2001-2010.

Background/objectives: Surgery offers the potential to relieve symptoms for patients with cancer at the end of life (EOL) but at significant physiological and economic costs. However, the characteristics and correlates of surgery in last month of life (EOL surgery) of patients with cancer have not been comprehensively explored. This population-based study characterized EOL surgery use and identified its correlates.

Presurgical symptom profiles predict quality of life 2 years after surgery in women with breast cancer.

Purpose: Higher symptom burden in oncology patients is associated with poorer quality of life (QOL). However, the long-term predictive relationship between pre-treatment symptom profiles and QOL is unknown. The aim of this study was to identify subgroups of breast cancer patients based on their presurgical symptom profiles and to examine the predictive effect of group membership on QOL 2 years after surgery.

Physician-patient end-of-life care discussions: correlates and associations with end-of-life care preferences of cancer patients-a cross-sectional survey study.

Background: Honoring patients' treatment preferences is a key component of high-quality end-of-life care. Connecting clinical practices to patients' preferences requires effective communication. However, few cancer patients reported discussing end-of-life-care preferences with their physicians.

Determinants of preference for home death among terminally ill patients with cancer in Taiwan: a cross-sectional survey study.

Background: Studies worldwide have shown that most patients with cancer prefer to die at home. Few studies have directly explored the determinants of preference for home death in patients with cancer living in Asia, and none has been conducted in Taiwan.

Objectives: This study was designed to identify determinants of home-death preference among terminally ill patients with cancer in Taiwan.

Associations between accurate prognostic understanding and end-of-life care preferences and its correlates among Taiwanese terminally ill cancer patients surveyed in 2011-2012.

Objective: Adequate knowledge of prognosis is a prerequisite for planning appropriate end-of-life (EOL) care. However, questions remain about whether the association between prognostic understanding and EOL-care intensity reflects terminally ill cancer patients' preferences for EOL care. This study investigated the associations between accurate prognostic understanding and EOL-care preferences, and identified correlates of accurate prognostic understanding.

Weight change trajectory in women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy and the effect of different regimens.

Aims And Objectives: To investigate the trajectory of weight change in Taiwanese women with breast cancer after starting chemotherapy and the impact of chemotherapy regimens on weight change while controlling for age, menopausal status, body mass index, lymph node involvement and changes in habits of dietary fat intake and exercise.

Background: Weight gain after adjuvant chemotherapy in women with breast cancer has negative impact on health outcomes.

Design: Longitudinal, clinical observational study.

Changes in perceived attentional function in women following breast cancer surgery.

After treatment for breast cancer, many women experience cognitive problems, as determined by objective neuropsychological tests. However, the ecological validity of these tests has been questioned. This study explored the trajectory of perceived attentional function from before to 24 months after surgery in women with breast cancer and examined the effect of adjuvant treatment on this perceived attentional function.

Accuracy of body mass index to determine obesity in women with breast cancer: an observational study of Taiwanese sample.

Background: Obesity is common in women with breast cancer. The risk of obesity-induced metabolic syndrome is higher in Asians than in Caucasians. Excessive body fat accumulation has been associated with a worse prognosis.

Cancer pain as the presenting problem in emergency departments: incidence and related factors.

Goals Of Work: Since emergency departments (ED) are designed to manage people with urgent and life-threatening conditions, cancer patients presenting with pain may not receive the appropriate care in the ED. The purpose of this study was to identify the incidence and factors related to ED visits by cancer patients with pain complaints.

Materials And Methods: Medical charts selected by stratified random sampling were retrospectively reviewed to obtain information about ED visits by cancer patients during a 1-year period.

Patient awareness of prognosis, patient-family caregiver congruence on the preferred place of death, and caregiving burden of families contribute to the quality of life for terminally ill cancer patients in Taiwan.

Objectives: The main goal of end-of-life care is to achieve the best quality of life (QOL) for patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of (1) the patients' awareness of their prognosis, (2) the extent of patient-family caregiver congruence on the preferences for end-of-life care options, and (3) the perceived caregiving burden of family caregivers when they provide end-of-life care to their dying relative, on the QOL for terminally ill cancer patients in Taiwan.

Methods: A total of 1108 dyads of patient-family caregiver from 24 hospitals throughout Taiwan were one-time surveyed.

Role of continuing supportive cares in increasing social support and reducing perceived uncertainty among women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in Taiwan.

The purpose of this study was to explore the roles of continuing supportive care in increasing the social support and reducing the perceived uncertainty among women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in Taiwan. A longitudinal, quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Sixty-one women younger than 60 years, newly diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing surgery, were recruited from 2 urban teaching hospitals in northern Taiwan.

Congruence of knowledge, experiences, and preferences for disclosure of diagnosis and prognosis between terminally-ill cancer patients and their family caregivers in Taiwan.

Background: Over the last 40 years, studies have shown cultural differences in attitudes toward truth telling at the end-of-life. Nevertheless, the argument that cancer patients from an Asian culture have different preferences about information disclosure that necessitate significantly modifying information disclosure practices has not been validated by direct investigation from patients' points of view.

Methods: Six hundred seventeen dyads of patient-designated family caregivers across 21 hospitals throughout Taiwan were surveyed and interviewed by a semistructured interview guide.

Concordance of preferences for end-of-life care between terminally ill cancer patients and their family caregivers in Taiwan.

There is a dearth of information in the literature about the concordance of preferences for end-of-life care between terminally ill patients and their family surrogates outside the Western countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of concordance in preferences for end-of-life care goals and life-sustaining treatments between Taiwanese terminally ill cancer patients and their primary family caregivers. A total of 617 dyads of patients-family caregivers across 21 hospitals throughout Taiwan were surveyed.