Effectiveness of Elastic Band Exercises on the Functional Fitness of Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facilities.

Background: Population aging has caused a rise in the institutionalization, disability, and mortality rates of older adults worldwide. Older adults are able to engage in muscle training. Elastic band exercises can safely and effectively improve the upper and lower muscle strength and balance of older adults.

An improved process for high nutrition of germinated brown rice production: Low-pressure plasma.

Brown rice was exposed to low-pressure plasma ranging from 1 to 3kV for 10min. Treatment of brown rice in low-pressure plasma increases the germination percentage, seedling length, and water uptake in laboratory germination tests. Of the various treatments, 3-kV plasma exposure for 10min yielded the best results.

Grape seed proanthocyanidins prevent DOCA-salt hypertension-induced renal injury and its mechanisms in rats.

Renal dysfunction is one of the major effects of DOCA (deoxycorticosterone acetate)-salt hypertension and there is an increasing amount of evidence that oxidative stress damages the function of the kidney. Grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPE) have been reported to be potent anti-oxidants and free radical scavengers. The present study sought to investigate the ability of GSPE to prevent renal injury in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats and to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying its protective effects.

Antioxidant activity in extracts of 27 indigenous Taiwanese vegetables.

The objectives of this study were to identify the antioxidants and antioxidant axtivity in 27 of Taiwan's indigenous vegetables. Lycium chinense (Lc), Lactuca indica (Li), and Perilla ocymoides (Po) contained abundant quercetin (Que), while Artemisia lactiflora (Al) and Gynura bicolor (Gb) were rich in morin and kaempferol, respectively. Additionally, Nymphoides cristata (Nc) and Sechium edule (Se)-yellow had significantly higher levels of myricetin (Myr) than other tested samples.

Rice bran feruloylated oligosaccharides activate dendritic cells via Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 signaling.

This work presents the effects of feruloylated oligosaccharides (FOs) of rice bran on murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) and the potential pathway through which the effects are mediated. We found that FOs induced phenotypic maturation of DCs, as shown by the increased expression of CD40, CD80/CD86 and MHC-I/II molecules. FOs efficiently induced maturation of DCs generated from C3H/HeN or C57BL/6 mice with normal toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) or TLR-2 but not DCs from mice with mutated TLR4 or TLR2.

Immunomodulatory effects of feruloylated oligosaccharides from rice bran.

Feruloylated oligosaccharides (FOs), the ferulic acid ester of oligosaccharides, can be released either by the enzymatic or mild acid hydrolysis of arabinoxylans present in cereal bran, and are usually considered as natural antioxidants. However, no related research is available to explain their immunomodulatory effects. This report elucidated their immunomodulatory effects through the variations of pro-inflammatory mediators in vitro.

[Increasing smoking cessation rates in hospitalized patients with coronary artery disease].

Background & Problems: Smoking cessation improves disease prognoses and decreases the risk of sudden death in patients with coronary artery disease.

Purpose: This study was designed to increase the six-month smoking cessation rate to more than 45% for hospitalized patients with coronary artery disease.

Resolutions: Data analysis found a current smoking cessation rate of zero percent.

Prevalence and associated factors of sexual dysfunction in cervical cancer patients.

Introduction: Cervical cancer (CC), compared with other gynecological cancers, has critical implications for women's sexual lives. For most Asian people, the issue of sexual dysfunction (SD) is treated as a taboo especially in a conservative culture. As a result, little is known about the prevalence of SD among CC patients.

[Factors related to sexual dysfunction in patients with cervical cancer].

Background: Cervical cancer impacts upon the sex lives of its victims in ways that are more profound than other gynecological cancers. However, no research on sexual dysfunction issues in cervical cancer patients has previously been conducted in Taiwan.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to explore sexual dysfunction and related factors in patients diagnosed with cervical cancer.

[Establishment of a model for predicting the postoperative morbidity in patients with pelvic and acetabulum fractures].

Objective: To establish a model for predicting the postoperative morbidity in patients with pelvic and acetabulum fractures.

Methods: The clinical of 94 patients with pelvic and acetabulum fractures were retrospectively reviewed for analysis of the postoperative complications and duration of hospital stay. The preoperative physiological scores (PS) and operative severity scores (OS) of the patients were selected as the variables, and their regression coefficients were calculated by logistic regression analysis to establish the model for predicting the postoperative morbidities.