Abalone peptide increases stress resilience and cost-free longevity via SKN-1-governed transcriptional metabolic reprogramming in C. elegans.

A major goal of healthy aging is to prevent declining resilience and increasing frailty, which are associated with many chronic diseases and deterioration of stress response. Here, we propose a loss-or-gain survival model, represented by the ratio of cumulative stress span to life span, to quantify stress resilience at organismal level. As a proof of concept, this is demonstrated by reduced survival resilience in Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to exogenous oxidative stress induced by paraquat or with endogenous proteotoxic stress caused by polyglutamine or amyloid-β aggregation.

Exploring the clinical efficacy of a self-made acne prescription based on high-throughput sequencing.

Background: We used high-throughput sequencing on skin microbial flora to assess the effectiveness of an acne prescription to formulate evidence for clinical decision-making.

Methods: We randomized 20 outpatients into two groups. The treatment group was given the acne formula orally.

The impact of physician subspeciality on the quality of diabetes care for people living with HIV.

Background: Management of comorbidities of people living with HIV (PLHIV) involves different care models, including providing diabetes care and HIV care by the same infectious diseases physician (IDP) ("consolidated care") or providing diabetes care by the physicians other than IDP ("shared care"). The impact of diabetes care model on PLHIV with diabetes mellitus (DM) has not been well-evaluated.

Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional sample in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to compare the performance rates of seven guideline-recommended tests provided by the different subspecialists.

Antioxidant and antiaging effect of traditional Thai rejuvenation medicines in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Objective: This study explored the rejuvenation mechanisms of Thai polyherbal medicines using different approaches, including in vitro methods, as well as a well-defined nematode model, Caenorhabditis elegans.

Methods: THP-R-SR012 decoction was selected from 23 polyherbal medicines, based on metal-chelating and chain-breaking antioxidant capacities. The influences of this extract on the survival and some stress biomarkers of C.

Physician code creep after the initiation of outpatient volume control program and implications for appropriate ICD-10-CM coding.

Background: Most studies on the physician code creep (i.e., changes in case mix record-keeping practices to improve reimbursement) have focused on episodes (inpatient hospitalizations or outpatient procedures).

Changes in drowning mortality rates and quality of reporting from 2004-2005 to 2014-2015: a comparative study of 61 countries.

Background: This study assessed international variations in changes in drowning mortality rates and the quality of reporting specific information in death certificates over the past decade.

Methods: Drowning mortality data of 61 countries were extracted from the World Health Organization Mortality Database. We calculated the percentage change (PC) in age-standardized drowning mortality rates and percentage of drowning deaths reported with unspecified codes between 2004 and 2005 and 2014-2015.

Health care utilization pattern prior to maltreatment among children under five years of age in Taiwan.

Background: Several studies have hypothesized that the pattern of health care utilization among maltreated children differ from others without the experience. However, the conclusions have not been consistent.

Objective: The study aims to examine whether the pattern of health care utilization among children 0-5 years old with maltreatment different from their counterparts without maltreatment in Taiwan.

Changes in the number and causes of maternal deaths after the introduction of pregnancy checkbox on the death certificate in Taiwan.

Objective: To examine changes in the number and causes of maternal deaths after the introduction of pregnancy checkbox on the death certificate in January 2014 in Taiwan.

Materials And Methods: We first used the cause-of-death (COD) mortality data for years 2010 through 2017 to examine the number of deaths by item of pregnancy checkbox. We then compared the distribution of the causes of maternal deaths before and after the introduction of pregnancy checkbox.

Comparing regional neonatal mortality rates: the influence of registration of births as live born for birth weight <500 g in Taiwan.

Objective: To investigate regional variation in the registration of births (still+live) as live born for birth weight <500 g and the impact on the city/county ranking of neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in Taiwan.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional ecological study.

Setting: 20 cities/counties in Taiwan.

The moderator effect of retention in care on late presentation in HIV-infected patients.

The moderator effect of retention in care on late presenters in HIV patients has not been well evaluated. A nationwide cohort study focusing on HIV-infected patients with new engagement in care was conducted by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Retention in care was defined based on the healthcare utilization in the first year after engaging in HIV care.

Inhibition of Abeta Proteotoxicity by Paeoniflorin in Caenorhabditis elegans Through Regulation of Oxidative and Heat Shock Stress Responses.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common form of dementia and amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) aggregation is considered to be one of its main causes. Paeoniflorin has been previously shown to attenuate cognitive damage inflicted by exogenous Aβ protein. Using transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans models expressing human Aβ, we demonstrate here that paeoniflorin can delay progressive paralysis caused by endogenous Aβ expression and reduce the amount of toxic Aβ oligomers in vivo, although it has no effect on Aβ aggregation in vitro.

A meta-analysis of the impact of human leukocyte antigen-G on the outcomes of IVF/ICSI.

This analysis was performed to determine whether the presence of soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (sHLA-G) in embryo culture medium is predictive of clinical outcomes in IVF treatment. The outcomes of implantation, clinical pregnancy, multiple pregnancy and miscarriage, between groups with and without sHLA-G in embryo culture media, were analysed. Fifteen studies with a total of 6170 cases were included.

Medical claims-based case-control study of temporal relationship between clinical visits for hand syndromes and subsequent diabetes diagnosis: implications for identifying patients with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: To investigate whether a temporal relationship is present between clinical visits for diabetes-related hand syndromes (DHSs) and subsequent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) diagnosis and, accordingly, whether DHSs can be used for identifying patients with undiagnosed T2DM.

Design: This study had a case-control design nested within a cohort of 1 million people from the general population, which was followed from 2005 to 2010. The odds of prior clinical visits for DHSs, namely carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), flexor tenosynovitis, limited joint mobility and Dupuytren's disease, were estimated for cases and controls.

Prevalence of hand syndromes among patients with diabetes mellitus in Taiwan: A population-based study.

Background: Population-based data for diabetic hand syndrome (DHS) are limited. The aim of the present epidemiological study was to estimate the overall and cause-specific prevalence and rate ratio (RR) of DHS in patients with diabetes.

Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study based on a random sample of 57 093 diabetics and matched controls, both identified from Taiwan National Health Insurance claims in 2010.

Risk of Hand Syndromes in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan.

The aim of this study was to assess the overall and cause-specific incidences of diabetic hand syndromes (DHS) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) by using age and sex stratifications.The DM and control cohorts comprised 606,152 patients with DM and 609,970 age- and sex-matched subjects, respectively, who were followed up from 2000 to 2008. We estimated the incidence densities (IDs) of overall and cause-specific DHS, namely carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), stenosing flexor tenosynovitis (SFT), limited joint mobility (LJM), and Dupuytren disease (DD), and calculated the hazard ratios (HRs) of DHS in relation to DM by using a Cox proportional hazards model with adjustment for potential confounders.

Using cluster analysis to identify phenotypes and validation of mortality in men with COPD.

Purpose: Cluster analysis has been proposed to examine phenotypic heterogeneity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to use cluster analysis to define COPD phenotypes and validate them by assessing their relationship with mortality.

Methods: Male subjects with COPD were recruited to identify and validate COPD phenotypes.

An easy-to-implement approach for analyzing case-control and case-only studies assuming gene-environment independence and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

The case-control study is a simple and an useful method to characterize the effect of a gene, the effect of an exposure, as well as the interaction between the two. The control-free case-only study is yet an even simpler design, if interest is centered on gene-environment interaction only. It requires the sometimes plausible assumption that the gene under study is independent of exposures among the non-diseased in the study populations.

Reducing population stratification bias: stratum matching is better than exposure.

Objective: Genetic studies of complex human diseases rely heavily on the epidemiologic association paradigm, particularly the population-based case-control designs. This study aims to compare the matching effectiveness in terms of bias reduction between exposure matching and stratum matching.

Study Design And Setting: Formulas for population stratification bias were derived.

Population stratification bias in the case-only study for gene-environment interactions.

The case-only study is a convenient approach and provides increased statistical efficiency in detecting gene-environment interactions. The validity of a case-only study hinges on one well-recognized assumption: The susceptibility genotypes and the environmental exposures of interest are independent in the population. Otherwise, the study will be biased.

Clinical comparison of recovery from total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and inhalation anesthesia with isoflurane in dogs.

The characteristics of recovery from total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) with propofol and inhalation anesthesia with isoflurane was clinically compared in 149 client-owned dogs that anesthetized for surgical or diagnostic procedures. In all dogs, anesthesia was induced with an intravenous injection of propofol following premedication with acepromazine or diazepam. As a result, 58 dogs anesthetized with propofol-TIVA showed slower but smoother recovery than 91 dogs anesthetized with isoflurane anesthesia.

Simple formulas for gauging the potential impacts of population stratification bias.

The case-control study design is popular for genetic association studies of complex human diseases. However, case-control studies may suffer from bias due to population stratification. In this paper, the authors present simple formulas that can set a limit to the havoc population stratification bias can wreak (the lower and upper bounds of the confounding rate ratio and the upper bound of the type I error rate).

Additional therapeutic effects of electroacupuncture in conjunction with conventional rehabilitation for patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke.

Objective: This study examined the additional therapeutic effects of electroacupuncture for patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke.

Design: Randomized controlled study.

Subjects: A total of 63 patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke.