Behavioral symptoms, depression symptoms, and medication use in Michigan nursing home residents with dementia during COVID-19.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted nursing home (NH) care, including visitation restrictions, reduced staffing levels, and changes in routine care. These challenges may have led to increased behavioral symptoms, depression symptoms, and central nervous system (CNS)-active medication use among long-stay NH residents with dementia.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study including Michigan long-stay (≥100 days) NH residents aged ≥65 with dementia based on Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021.

The Characteristics of the Growth and the Active Compounds of Angelica gigas Nakai in Cultivation Sites.

The active compounds of medicinal plants vary in composition and content depending on environmental factors, such as light, temperature, and soil. According to the Korean Pharmacopoeia standards for herbal medicine, the sum of nodakenin, decursin, and decursinolangelate, which are the marker components of Korean Angelica, should be at least 6.0 g/100 g.

A Case-Mix System for Adults with Developmental Disabilities.

Effective management of publicly funded services matches the provision of needed services with cost-efficient payment methods. Payment systems that recognize differences in care needs (eg, case-mix systems) allow for greater proportions of available funds to be directed to providers supporting individuals with more needs. We describe a new way to allocate funds spent on adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) as part of a system-wide Medicaid payment reform initiative in Arkansas.

The effect of vitamin C intake on the risk of hyperuricemia and serum uric acid level in Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the association between vitamin C intake and risk of hyperuricemia or serum uric acid levels in male and female subjects in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Prospective Cohort.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis was conducted in 9400 subjects enrolled in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort Study. The risk of hyperuricemia was assessed in five quintiles (Q1 to Q5) according to dietary and total vitamin C intake using multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models.

The effect of coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption on serum uric acid and the risk of hyperuricemia in Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort.

Caffeine, a commonly consumed food constituent, is known to exert beneficial physiological effects in humans. There is a lack of comprehensive population data for the effects of caffeine intake on urate metabolism. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether coffee, tea, and caffeine intake influences serum uric acid and the risk of hyperuricemia in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort.

Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks increases the risk of hyperuricemia in Korean population: The Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort Study.

Objective: The clinical implication of sugar-sweetened soft drinks on the risk of hyperuricemia has increased, especially in Western population studies. The aim of this study is to clarify the association between sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks made from oranges and apples and the risk of hyperuricemia in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort.

Methods: A total of 9400 subjects were enrolled in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort Study, and a cross-sectional analysis was performed.

The impact of serum uric acid level on arterial stiffness and carotid atherosclerosis: the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort study.

Objective: Serum uric acid level has been found to be associated with a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, the topic has not been explored in the general population, especially in Korea. This study was designed to determine whether serum uric acid is associated with carotid atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort study.

GdN nanoisland-based GaN tunnel junctions.

Tunnel junctions could have a great impact on gallium nitride and aluminum nitride-based devices such as light-emitting diodes and lasers by overcoming critical challenges related to hole injection and p-contacts. This paper demonstrates the use of GdN nanoislands to enhance interband tunneling and hole injection into GaN p-n junctions by several orders of magnitude, resulting in low tunnel junction specific resistivity (1.3 × 10(-3) Ω-cm(2)) compared to the previous results in wide band gap semiconductors.

Development processes and growth pattern of Pinus densiflora stands in central eastern Korea.

Stand growth and developmental processes were investigated in Pinus densiflora Siebold et Zucc. stands of different ages in the central eastern region of Korea. Stands were inventoried and five trees per stand were sampled for stem analysis, age estimation, and growth analysis.

Ethyl acetate extract from Angelica Dahuricae Radix inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced production of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2 and tumor necrosis factor-alphavia mitogen-activated protein kinases and nuclear factor-kappaB in macrophages.

Angelica dahurica (Umbelliferae) has been used to treat headache of common cold, supraorbital neuralgia, painful swelling on the body, nasal stuffiness, leukorrhea and arthralgia due to wind-dampness in Korean traditional medicine. It is also claimed to be effective in the treatment of acne, erythema, headache, toothache, sinusitis, colds and flu. The present study focused whether the ethyl acetate extract from Angelica Dahuricae Radix (EAAD) inhibits production of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, as well as expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages.

Effects of the Schisandra fructus water extract on cytokine release from a human mast cell line.

Schisandra fructus has been used for treatment of cough and thirst in Korea. However, its therapeutic mechanisms remain largely unclear. To investigate the biological effect of Schisandra fructus water extract (SFWE), we examined the effect of SFWE on the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and calcium ionophore A23187-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in the human mast cell line HMC-1.

The anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of ethyl acetate fraction of cynanchi paniculati radix.

The anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects and sedative activities of the ethyl acetate fraction of Cynanchum paniculatum (EACP) were evaluated in mice and rats by acetic acid-induced vascular permeability, arachidonic acid-induced paw edema, cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation, formalin-induced licking time, acetic acid-induced writhing response, and pentobarbital-induced sleeping time. EACP at a dose of 40 mg/kg significantly exhibited anti-inflammatory activities on acetic acid-induced vascular permeability, arachidonic acid-induced paw edema, and the late phase of formalin-induced licking time. Moreover, it showed anti-nociceptive effects on acetic acid-induced writhing responses and significant sedative effects on pentobarbital-induced sleeping time.

Terminal care for persons with advanced dementia in the nursing home and home care settings.

Background: Many older persons with advanced dementia receive terminal care in nursing homes, others remain in the community with home care services.

Objectives: To describe and compare the end-of-life experience of persons dying with advanced dementia in the nursing home and home care settings.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Estimating prognosis for nursing home residents with advanced dementia.

Context: Survival varies for patients with advanced dementia, and accurate prognostic tools have not been developed. A small proportion of patients admitted to hospice have dementia, in part because of the difficulty in predicting survival.

Objectives: To identify factors associated with 6-month mortality in newly admitted nursing home residents with advanced dementia and to create a practical risk score to predict 6-month mortality in this population.

Predictors of aspiration pneumonia in nursing home residents.

Aspiration pneumonia is a serious problem for the elderly institutionalized person, often requiring transfer to a hospital and a lengthy stay there. It is associated with a high mortality rate and is very costly to the health care system. The current study sought to determine the key predictors of aspiration pneumonia in a nursing home population with the hope that health care providers could identify those residents at highest risk and focus more efforts on prevention of this serious disease.