Polygenic Risk Score Predicts Earlier-Onset Adult Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and First-Year Renal Diseases in a Taiwanese Cohort.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop a predictive model using polygenic risk score (PRS) to forecast renal outcomes for adult systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a Taiwanese population.

Methods: Patients with SLE (n=2782) and matched non-SLE controls (n=11 128) were genotyped using Genome-Wide TWB 2.0 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array.

Reliability and minimal detectable change of the Short Physical Performance Battery in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Objectives: Reliability of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) are rarely examined among older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study aimed to investigate the test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) of the SPPB in older adults with MCI.

Methods: Participants included 100 older adults with MCI.

Subjective experience of parent-child relationship in adolescents with congenital heart disease: A qualitative study.

Purpose: To explore the parent-child relationship through the subjective experience of adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Design And Methods: A descriptive phenomenology approach was adopted. Twelve adolescents aged from 12 to 18 years with CHD were recruited from the pediatric cardiology clinics at two medical centers in Taiwan.

Mediating Effect of Heart Rate Variability on the Relationship Between Anxiety Symptoms and Blood Pressure in Patients with Primary Hypertension.

Patients with hypertension (HTN) are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, which can be reduced with blood pressure (BP) control. Anxiety can contribute to high BP and low heart rate variability (HRV). Although relationships between social support, self-rated health-status (SRHS), anxiety and measures of HRV and BP have been suggested, they have not been clearly established.

[Experience of Providing Intensive Rehabilitation Care to a School-Aged Child With Living-Donor Lobar Lung Transplantation].

The post-operative intensive care experience of a school-aged child who received living-donor bilateral lobar lung transplantation due to acute respiratory distress syndrome and interstitial pulmonary fibrosis is discussed in this paper. The patient received lungs donated by her parents in a "living-donor bilateral lobar lung transplantation" due to severe lung function impairment. The patient felt anxious due to her long-term hospitalization for preoperative evaluation, various invasive treatments, and postoperative rehabilitation.

[Excelling in the AI Era: Cultivating AI Literacy].

In light of the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), the future of the nursing profession is expected to be closely intertwined with AI applications. In response to this challenge, nursing educators must cultivate AI literacy in students to ensure their ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with their interdisciplinary peers. Nursing educators should comprehend the essence of AI literacy, integrate AI literacy into their curriculum designs, and regularly assess the effectiveness of AI literacy cultivation efforts among their students to ensure nursing graduates are able to effectively fulfill their roles in nursing and healthcare.

[Embracing the Era of Artificial Intelligence: Innovation and Preparation in Nursing Education].

Rapid recent advances in information technology have opened the door for artificial intelligence (AI)-related technologies to be applied extensively across many industries. The Ministry of Education has emphasized the importance of cultivating advanced-level professionals in diverse fields, particularly in smart machinery, the Asia-Silicon Valley sector, green energy technology, biotechnology, national defense, new agricultural, and circular economy industries, to enhance innovation and promote industrial competitiveness (Kuo, 2019). While interdisciplinary talent in AI and digital innovation is being actively developed elsewhere, nursing education remains in the exploratory phase of AI and digital technology talent cultivation.

Effectiveness of Huddles in Improving the Patient Safety Attitudes Among Clinical Team Members.

Background And Objectives: Huddles among members of interdisciplinary medical teams involve short stand-up sessions and allow team members to focus on existing or emerging patient safety issues, thereby facilitating team communication. Hospital managers are able to recognize the current situation of the organization through patient safety attitudes, strengthen team members' awareness of patient safety, and improve the quality of health care. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of huddles on improving team members' attitudes toward patient safety.

Effects of traditional Chinese medicine-assisted intervention on improving postpartum lactation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Importance: Breast milk is the safest food for infants and has many psychological and physical benefits for infants and mothers. However, problems encountered during the breastfeeding process can reduce postpartum women's willingness to breastfeed. Lactation and engorgement may be improved through Traditional Chinese Medicine auxiliary therapy.

Surge Capacity of Taipei's Regional Emergency Medical System during COVID-19: A System Dynamics Approach.

Background: The community transmission of COVID-19 has caused the breakdown of the regional emergency medical system (REMS), impacting the rights and care of regional patients with acute and severe conditions. This study proposes a model for the surge capacity of REMS to plan for readiness and preparedness during challenging events that overload capacity.

Methods: The surge capacity of REMS during the COVID-19 pandemic was studied.

Improving dengue fever predictions in Taiwan based on feature selection and random forests.

Background: Dengue fever is a well-studied vector-borne disease in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Several methods for predicting the occurrence of dengue fever in Taiwan have been proposed. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the relationship between air quality indices (AQIs) and dengue fever in Taiwan.

Gender Self-Identification: Opinions About Transgender Women from a National Online Survey in Taiwan.

Gender self-identification (transgender) is not permitted in most Asian countries. In Taiwan, individuals recognized as transgender must meet requirements mandated by the Gender Recognition Act. Currently, lifting the requirement for proof of sex-reassignment surgery is pending.

Interactive boxing-cycling on frailty and activity limitations in frail and prefrail older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Frailty is common among older adults, often associated with activity limitations during physical and walking tasks. The interactive boxing-cycling combination has the potential to be an innovative and efficient training method, and our hypothesis was that interactive boxing-cycling would be superior to stationary cycling in improving frailty and activity limitations in frail and prefrail older adults.

Objective: To examine the impact of interactive boxing-cycling on frailty and activity limitations in frail and prefrail older adults compared to stationary cycling.

Adiposity indices and their higher predictive value for new-onset hypertension in metabolically healthy young women: findings from a population-based prospective cohort study.

Background And Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the predictive ability of selected adiposity indices, such as body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), for new-onset hypertension in metabolically healthy Taiwanese adults. The study also sought to establish sex-specific cutoff points for these indices and to analyze the risk of new-onset hypertension, taking into account sex and age.

Methods: This prospective cohort study utilized the Taiwan Biobank database to examine metabolically healthy participants aged between 20 and 65 at baseline.

Tissue engineered vascular grafts are resistant to the formation of dystrophic calcification.

Advancements in congenital heart surgery have heightened the importance of durable biomaterials for adult survivors. Dystrophic calcification poses a significant risk to the long-term viability of prosthetic biomaterials in these procedures. Herein, we describe the natural history of calcification in the most frequently used vascular conduits, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene grafts.

Aquaporin-8 promotes human dermal fibroblasts to counteract hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative damage: A novel target for management of skin aging.

The skin is subjected to various external factors that contribute to aging including oxidative stress from hydrogen peroxide (HO). This study investigated the distribution of aquaporin-8 (AQP8), a protein that transports HO across biological membranes, in skin cells, and its effects in mitigating HO-induced oxidative damage. Human dermal fibroblasts were treated with increasing concentrations of HO to evaluate oxidative damage.

The utility of the surprise question by nurses to identify hospitalised older patients nearing the end-of-life and promotion of advance care planning: An interventional study.

Aims And Objectives: To assess the prognostic accuracy of the surprise question (SQ) when used by nurses working in hospital wards to determine 1-year mortality in acutely hospitalised older patients.

Background: The predictive accuracy of the SQ, when used by general nurses caring for older hospitalised patients, has not been comprehensively studied.

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Taiwanese fathers' experiences of caring for their children during childhood cancer treatment.

Purpose: Parents must manage their own stress and help their child with cancer during the treatment process, both physically and emotionally. With the increased involvement of fathers in caring for the family, how fathers adjust to the stress and play a role in care responsibilities is unknown. This study aimed to explore the fathers' experiences of caring for their ill child during the cancer diagnosis and treatment process.

Auricular Acupressure Improve Constipation of Patients With Schizophrenia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Study.

d. Constipation is a common distressing problem in patients with schizophrenia that can cause complications and impair quality of life. .

Construct validity, responsiveness, minimal detectable change, and minimal clinically important difference of the stroke self-efficacy questionnaire in individuals receiving stroke rehabilitation.

Purpose: To assess the clinimetric properties of the Stroke Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SSEQ) and estimate the minimal detectable change (MDC) and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) from the database of our randomized controlled trials (RCT) of individuals receiving stroke rehabilitation.

Methods: We retrieved the pre- and post-intervention scores of the SSEQ and Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) from 80 stroke survivors. The analysis of clinimetric properties was performed using: (1) confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory modeling (IRT) for construct validity; (2) standardized response mean and Glass's delta for responsiveness; (3) MDC based on the standard deviation (SD) or standard error of measurement (SEM) of the SSEQ change scores; (4) MCID determined by the external anchor-SIS; (5) conditional MDC (cMDC) derived from the IRT analysis.

Increased prevalence of peripheral vestibular disorder among patients with Fabry disease.

Background: Although peripheral vestibular disorder is a non-fatal complication of Fabry disease, fatalities have been reported in some case reports and case series. To date, no studies have examined the relative risk of peripheral vestibular disorder in patients with Fabry disease compared to the general population without the condition. Due to the high prevalence of Fabry disease in East Asia and the potential shared pathogenic pathways between Fabry disease and vasculopathy, we conducted a study using a nationwide population-based dataset to compare the prevalence of peripheral vestibular disorder between patients with Fabry disease and matched comparison patients.

Prediction of high visceral adipose tissue for sex-specific community residents in Taiwan.

Visceral adipose tissue accumulation is strongly linked with numerous chronic diseases; however, the accessibility for visceral adipose tissue measurement is limited. This study employed a cross-sectional design to determine the optimal strongest predictor of high visceral adipose tissue in each sex and identified the optimal cutoff value thereof. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 94 men and 326 women aged ≥40 years in southern Taiwan.

Impact of household income on the risk of overweight and obesity over time among preschool-aged children: a population-based cohort study.

Background: The temporality of household income level with overweight/obesity in children has not been extensively studied. Little research has been conducted to determine the impact of household income on the risk of childhood overweight/obesity over time. This population-based cohort study aimed to investigate the impact of household income on the risk of overweight/obesity over time among preschool-aged children in Taiwan.