Publications by authors named "Liou K"

(1) Background: This pilot study evaluates the feasibility and preliminary effects of acupuncture for cancer-related cognitive dysfunction (CRCD) in cancer survivors. (2) Methods: A randomized trial comparing real acupuncture (RA) to sham acupuncture (SA) and waitlist control (WLC) among cancer survivors reporting cognitive difficulties. Interventions were delivered weekly over 10 weeks.

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitutes a significant burden on global healthcare systems, especially affecting younger populations, where it is a leading cause of disability and mortality. Current treatments for TBI mainly focus on preventing further brain damage and controlling symptoms. However, despite these approaches, several clinical needs remain unmet.

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Since decades after temozolomide was approved, no effective drugs have been developed. Undoubtedly, blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration is a severe issue that should be overcome in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) drug development. In this research, we were inspired by linezolid through structural modification with several bioactive moieties to achieve the desired brain delivery.

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Amidst growing concerns over COVID-19 aftereffects like fatigue and cognitive issues, NRICM101, a traditional Chinese medicine, has shown promise. Used by over 2 million people globally, it notably reduces hospitalizations and intubations in COVID-19 patients. To explore whether NRICM101 could combat COVID-19 brain fog, we tested NRICM101 on hACE2 transgenic mice administered the S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2, aiming to mitigate S1-induced cognitive issues by measuring animal behaviors, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis.

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Background: Music-based interventions (MBIs) are evidence-based, nonpharmacological treatments that include music therapy (MT) delivered by board-certified music therapists, as well as music services (MS) delivered by other health professionals and volunteers. Despite MBI's growing evidence base in cancer symptom management, it remains unclear how MBI-related information is presented to the public. Over 80% of people with cancer use the internet to find health-related information.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The @JCO_ASCO paper highlights how racialized approaches to Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and opioid misuse significantly contribute to healthcare disparities in cancer treatment and outcomes.
  • - It emphasizes that these issues are often overlooked in discussions about health equity, leading to inadequate understanding and solutions.
  • - The paper also suggests strategies to address these disparities and improve health outcomes for affected populations, paving a better path forward in cancer care.
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Purpose: Cancer survivors are increasingly using wearable fitness trackers, but it is unclear if they match traditional self-reported sleep diaries. We aimed to compare sleep data from Fitbit and the Consensus Sleep Diary (CSD) in this group.

Methods: We analyzed data from two randomized clinical trials, using both CSD and Fitbit to collect sleep outcomes: total sleep time (TST), wake time after sleep onset (WASO), number of awakenings (NWAK), time in bed (TIB), and sleep efficiency (SE).

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Background: Racial disparities in sleep are well-documented. However, evidence-based options for addressing these disparities are lacking in cancer populations. To inform future research on sleep interventions, this study aims to understand racial differences in treatment responses to acupuncture and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) among Black and White cancer survivors.

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Introduction: Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK), a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, has emerged as a vital component in the complex symphony of cancer cell survival and division. SYK activation (constitutive) is documented in various B-cell malignancies, and its inhibition induces programmed cell death. In some instances, it also acts as a tumor suppressor.

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  • Hispanic cancer patients and survivors face higher pain levels and more barriers to pain management than non-Hispanic individuals, emphasizing the need for better support.
  • A study analyzed treatment expectations for integrative therapies like acupuncture and massage, finding that Hispanic participants had significantly higher expectations of benefit from these treatments compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts.
  • The research suggests that pain management strategies should consider these ethnic differences in expectations to improve treatment outcomes and address disparities in pain management among different populations.
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  • Dance/movement therapy (DMT) is being explored as a supportive treatment for cancer patients, focusing on both psychological and physical wellbeing through a 6-week virtual program.
  • Participants reported full satisfaction and significant reductions in anxiety and distress, alongside improvements in joy, indicating potential benefits of DMT in oncology care.
  • The study highlights DMT's role in enhancing physical activity, creative expression, mental health, and social connections, suggesting it could be an effective addition to integrative cancer care approaches.
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  • The study analyzes two main percutaneous treatments for significant unprotected ostial left anterior descending artery (LAD) disease: ostial stenting (OS) and crossover stenting (CS), focusing on how effectively they prevent target lesion revascularization (TLR).
  • After reviewing seven studies with 1,181 patients, the results indicated that CS significantly reduced the rate of TLR compared to OS, with additional benefits when intracoronary imaging was used during procedures.
  • Although CS showed better outcomes, it also led to a higher need for unintended interventions in the left circumflex artery (LCx), which could potentially be managed with a technique called final kissing balloon inflation, though the
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Using a network meta-analysis, this study compared fractional flow reserve (FFR) guided with angiography-guided revascularization of non-culprit lesions in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We also assessed if early complete revascularization is superior to delayed revascularization. We conducted a network meta-analysis using Net Meta XL of trials of STEMI patients with multivessel disease and compared revascularization strategies.

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Purpose: The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study is a randomized clinical trial designed to determine the effects of a best-practice hearing intervention versus a successful aging health education control intervention on cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults with untreated mild-to-moderate hearing loss. We describe the baseline audiologic characteristics of the ACHIEVE participants.

Method: Participants aged 70-84 years ( = 977; = 76.

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Introduction: Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA), a standardized auricular acupuncture protocol, is widely used for pain in the military but is not well-studied in oncology. This study examined cancer survivors who received BFA for pain.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a randomized trial that compared the effectiveness of BFA and electroacupuncture vs.

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  • A study compared the effectiveness of acupuncture versus massage in treating musculoskeletal pain in patients with advanced cancer, guided by recent pain management guidelines.
  • Conducted across multiple US cancer centers from September 2019 to February 2022, 298 patients with moderate to severe pain participated in the trial, receiving either weekly acupuncture or massage for 10 weeks with follow-up sessions.
  • The primary outcome measured was the change in worst pain intensity over 26 weeks, along with secondary outcomes including fatigue, insomnia, and overall quality of life, utilizing specific pain assessment tools.
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There is growing interest in cannabis use for cancer pain. This commentary aims to discuss the evidence surrounding cannabis use for cancer pain in the context of the long-racialized landscape of cannabis policies and the disparity in pain control among cancer patients holding minoritized racial identities. Much evidence surrounding both the benefits and harms of cannabis use in cancer patients, and all patients in general, is lacking.

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  • Cancer survivors frequently use wearable fitness trackers like Fitbit, but their accuracy compared to traditional sleep diaries (CSD) is uncertain.
  • A study analyzed sleep data from 62 cancer survivors, revealing that Fitbit reported longer total sleep time and wake time after sleep onset, but fewer hours in bed compared to CSD.
  • The findings indicate that while TST was the only sleep measurement consistently matching both methods, Fitbit may not effectively distinguish different levels of insomnia severity compared to the CSD.
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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Achyranthes aspera, a widely recognized medicinal plant, is used in various cultures for treating different ailments, including renal dysfunction; however, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of its protective effects and the underlying signaling networks involved.

Aim Of The Study: This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the action of A. aspera by employing an integrative approach including functional and tissue imaging as well as comprehensive genomics analysis.

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Objectives: Angioarchitectural analysis of brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVMs) is qualitative and subject to interpretation. This study quantified the morphology of and signal changes in the nidal and perinidal areas by using MR radiomics and compared the performance of MR radiomics and angioarchitectural analysis in detecting epileptic BAVMs.

Materials And Methods: From 2010 to 2020, a total of 111 patients with supratentorial BAVMs were retrospectively included and grouped in accordance with the initial presentation of seizure.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to represent a challenge for public health globally since transmission of different variants of the virus does not seem to be effectively affected by the current treatments and vaccines. During COVID-19 the outbreak in Taiwan, the patients with mild symptoms were improved after the treatment with NRICM101, a traditional Chinese medicine formula developed by our institute. Here, we investigated the effect and mechanism of action of NRICM101 on improval of COVID-19-induced pulmonary injury using S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-induced diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) of hACE2 transgenic mice.

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We report a Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculation of a system with more than 200 000 atoms and 800 000 electrons using a real-space high-order finite-difference method to investigate the electronic structure of large spherical silicon nanoclusters. Our system of choice was a 20 nm large spherical nanocluster with 202 617 silicon atoms and 13 836 hydrogen atoms used to passivate the dangling surface bonds. To speed up the convergence of the eigenspace, we utilized Chebyshev-filtered subspace iteration, and for sparse matrix-vector multiplications, we used blockwise Hilbert space-filling curves, implemented in the PARSEC code.

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Racial and ethnic disparities in pain management pose major challenges to equitable cancer care delivery. These disparities are driven by complex interactions between patient-, provider-, and system-related factors that resist reductionistic solutions and require innovative, holistic approaches. On September 19, 2022, the Society for Integrative Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology published a joint guideline to provide evidence-based recommendations on integrative medicine for cancer pain management.

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Background: Cancer survivors represent one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Unfortunately, nearly 1 in 3 survivors experience anxiety symptoms as a long-term consequence of cancer and its treatment. Characterized by restlessness, muscle tension, and worry, anxiety worsens the quality of life; impairs daily functioning; and is associated with poor sleep, depressed mood, and fatigue.

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