Speech comprehension in noisy environments: Evidence from the predictability effects on the N400 and LPC.

Introduction: Speech comprehension involves context-based lexical predictions for efficient semantic integration. This study investigated how noise affects the predictability effect on event-related potentials (ERPs) such as the N400 and late positive component (LPC) in speech comprehension.

Methods: Twenty-seven listeners were asked to comprehend sentences in clear and noisy conditions (hereinafter referred to as "clear speech" and "noisy speech," respectively) that ended with a high-or low-predictability word during electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings.

Association Between Antibiotic Treatment of Leptospirosis Infections and Reduced Risk of Dementia: A Nationwide, Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Background: To explore the association between leptospirosis, the risk of dementia, and the potential protective role of antibiotic treatment.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort nationwide, population-based study, from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). We enrolled 1,428 subjects aged 50 years or above, in the index year of 2000, which included those retrieved from the NHIRD record.

Neural correlates of phonology-to-orthography mapping consistency effects on Chinese spoken word recognition.

Previous studies have shown that reading experience reshapes speech processing. The orthography can be implemented in the brain by restructuring the phonological representations or being co-activated during spoken word recognition. This study utilized event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and functional connectivity analysis to examine the neural mechanism underlying two types of orthographic effects in the Chinese auditory semantic category task, namely phonology-to-orthography consistency (POC) and homophone density (HD).

Improved nutritional support with immune-modulating formula in patients with head and neck and esophageal cancer undergoing radiochemotherapy: A retrospective clinical study.

Background And Objectives: Malnutrition is frequent in patients with head and neck (HN) and esophageal cancer, aggravated by radiochemotherapy (RCT), and increases morbidity and mortality and treatment toxicity. Recent studies suggest that the immune, nutritional, or inflammatory status can be modulated by the use of pharmaconutrients in RCT-treated patients. In this study, the effect of immunonutrition, including arginine, ω-3 fatty acid, and nucleotide enriched diet, on nutritional status in patients with HN or esophageal cancer undergoing RCT was investigated.

Pinworm infections associated with risk of psychiatric disorders-A nationwide cohort study in Taiwan: Pinworm infections and psychiatric disorders.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the association between males with pinworm infections and the risk of developing psychiatric disorders.

Method: A total of 2044 enrolled patients, with 511 pinworm subjects and 1533 unexposed subjects (1:3) matched for sex, age and index year, from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) from 2000 to 2015, selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). After adjusting for confounding factors, the Cox regression model was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders during the 15 years of follow-up.

Development of a titanium dioxide-assisted preconcentration/on-site vapor-generation chip hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry for online determination of mercuric ions in urine samples.

In this study, a novel automatic analytical methodology using a titanium dioxide (TiO)-assisted preconcentration/on-site vapor-generation (VG) chip hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for online determination of mercuric ions (Hg) was developed. Interestingly, the TiO nanoparticle (nano-TiO) coating on the channel surface acted not only as a sorbent for preconcentration but also as a catalyst for photocatalyst-assisted VG. Under optimum operation conditions, the developed method was validated by analyzing the certified reference material (CRM) Seronorm™ Trace Elements Urine L-2 (freeze-dried human urine).

Electroconvulsive Therapy and Risk of Dementia-A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, and a temporary memory loss may occur after ECT. However, the association between ECT in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, and the risk of dementia is yet to be examined. This study aimed to clarify as to whether ECT is associated with the risk of dementia after ECT in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).

Hypomania Induced by Bifrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in a Patient with Bipolar Depression.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive neuromodulation technique, has been increasingly used to treat bipolar depression. Researchers recently noticed the risk of tDCS-emergent mania/hypomania in depressed patients and started to evaluate this risk by launching a meta-analysis. Here we present a female with bipolar II depression who rapidly developed hypomanic switching during bifrontal tDCS.

Cognitive enhancers associated with decreased risk of injury in patients with dementia: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan.

This study aimed to investigate the associations among dementia, psychotropic medications and the risk of overall injuries. In this nationwide matched cohort study, a total of 144 008 enrolled patients ≥age of 50, with 36 002 study subjects who suffered from dementia and 108 006 controls matched for sex and age, from the Inpatient Dataset, for the period 2000-2010 in Taiwan were selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database, according to International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification. When adjusting for the confounding factors, a Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders during the 10 years of follow-up.

Parenteral nutrition combined with enteral feeding improves the outcome of cancer patients.

Background And Objectives: This study investigated whether total parenteral nutrition combined with enteral nutrition is associated with improved biochemical and clinical outcomes in cancer patients with gastrointestinal dysfunction.

Methods And Study Design: From January to December 2014, the clinical data of 68 patients in a cancer ward were retrospectively collected, and these patients were classified into two groups according to nutrition delivery, through parenteral nutrition, combined with enteral nutrition more (group A) or less (group B) than 250 kcal/day. The following variables were analyzed: the route and percentage of nutritional support, total caloric intake, age, gender, body weight, body mass index, diagnosis at admission, complications of intestinal failure, modified Glasgow Prognostic Score, co-morbidities, duration of total parenteral nutrition support, performance status scale, and plasma nutritional markers.

Effects of orthographic consistency and homophone density on Chinese spoken word recognition.

Studies of alphabetic language have shown that orthographic knowledge influences phonological processing during spoken word recognition. This study utilized the Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to differentiate two types of phonology-to-orthography (P-to-O) mapping consistencies in Chinese, namely homophone density and orthographic consistency. The ERP data revealed an orthographic consistency effect in the frontal-centrally distributed N400, and a homophone density effect in central-posteriorly distributed late positive component (LPC).

Asiatic acid attenuated apoptotic and inflammatory stress in the striatum of MPTP-treated mice.

The effects of post-treatments with asiatic acid (AA) at 20, 40 or 80 mg per kg BW per day against apoptotic, oxidative and inflammatory injury in the striatum of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated mice were examined. The results showed that AA supplements at 40 and 80 mg per kg BW per day increased AA deposit in the striatum, increased glutathione content and decreased reactive oxygen species production in the striatum. AA supplements at 20-80 mg per kg BW per day dose-dependently lowered striatal levels of nitric oxide, 3-nitrotyrosine, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and prostaglandin E2.

The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and a nutrition education program for high risk cancer patients: strategies to improve dietary intake in cancer patients.

Four hundred and forty-four high-risk oncology patients with malnutrition participated in this study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of nutrition education on improving an oncology patient's dietary intake. We used a nutritional risk screening to select oncology patients in need of nutritional care. Team Nutrition provides technical assistance for foodservice, nutrition education for patients and their caregivers, and support for healthy eating and physical activity to improve their diets and their lives.

Renal protective effects of Porphyra dentate aqueous extract in diabetic mice.

Background: Purple laver (() is a popular edible seaweed in Asia. This study examined protective effects of extract from purple laver extract (PLE) in diabetic mice. Methods: Content of carotenoids and anthocyanins in PLE was analyzed.

Anti-apoptotic and anti-glycative effects of asiatic acid in the brain of D-galactose treated mice.

Protection of asiatic acid (AA) in mice brain against D-galactose (DG) induced aging was examined. AA at 5, 10 or 20 mg kg(-1) per day was supplied to DG treated mice for 8 weeks. AA intake at 10 or 20 mg kg(-1) per day increased its deposit in brain.

Riboflavin at high doses enhances lung cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration.

The influence of riboflavin (vitamin B(2) ) upon growth, invasion, and migration in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines was evaluated. Riboflavin at 1, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, or 400 μmol/L was added into A549, H3255, or Calu-6 cells. The effects of this compound upon level and/or expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammatory cytokines, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, fibronectin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, MMP-2, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were examined.

In vivo Th1 and Th2 cytokine modulation effects of Rhodiola rosea standardised solution and its major constituent, salidroside.

Although Rhodiola rosea (L.) is used widely and disseminated in Oriental medicine, its in vivo effects on cytokine modulation remain unclear. Among the biologically active components of Rhodiola rosea, salidroside was suggested to be the most active compound.

In vivo cytokine modulatory effects of cinnamaldehyde, the major constituent of leaf essential oil from Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the major compound in the leaf essential oil of Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh. and to examine its in vivo toxicity and cytokine-modulatory effects. The HS-GC/MS and quantitative HPLC analyses showed the concentrations of the major compounds, cinnamaldehyde, benzaldehyde and 3-phenylpropionaldehyde, in the leaf essential oil of Cinnamomum osmophloeum to be 16.

Association of dietary AGEs with circulating AGEs, glycated LDL, IL-1α and MCP-1 levels in type 2 diabetic patients.

Purpose: The association of dietary advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) intake with the oxidative and inflammatory status in type 2 diabetic patients was examined.

Methods: Seventy-four healthy controls, 50 low AGEs intake and 68 high AGEs intake type 2 diabetic patients were requested to complete a 7-day dietary record. Blood levels of several oxidative and inflammatory biomarkers were determined.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulatory activities of caffeic acid and ellagic acid in cardiac tissue of diabetic mice.

Background: Caffeic acid (CA) and ellagic acid (EA) are phenolic acids naturally occurring in many plant foods. Cardiac protective effects of these compounds against dyslipidemia, hypercoagulability, oxidative stress and inflammation in diabetic mice were examined.

Methods: Diabetic mice were divided into three groups (15 mice per group): diabetic mice with normal diet, 2% CA treatment, or 2% EA treatment.