A group music intervention using percussion instruments with familiar music to reduce anxiety and agitation of institutionalized older adults with dementia.

Objective: This experimental study aimed to evaluate the effects of a group music intervention on anxiety and agitation of institutionalized older adults with dementia.

Methods: A total of 60 participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. The experimental group received a 30-min music intervention using percussion instruments with familiar music in a group setting in mid afternoon twice weekly for 6 weeks, whereas the control group received usual care with no music intervention.

Decrease of blood lipids induced by Shan-Zha (fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida) is mainly related to an increase of PPARα in liver of mice fed high-fat diet.

Hyperlipidemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Agents for the treatment of hyperlipidemia are well-developed in the clinic while PPARα is a target for lipid-lowering agents. Shan-Zha (Crataegus pinnatifida) is a traditional Chinese medicine used to increase digestion.

Transcultural spirituality: the spiritual journey of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia in Taiwan.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore how hospitalization and the diagnosis of schizophrenia have an impact on Taiwanese patients' spiritual life.

Background: Psychiatric nurses tend to construe patients' spiritual issues as pathological problems and consequently are reluctant to address patient's spirituality, which results in spirituality being overlooked in mental illness. An individual's spiritual journey is dependent upon their cultural background and beliefs; however, the professional's preconceived ideas suppress the voice of patients with schizophrenia to share their experiences of their spiritual journey.

Drinking behaviors: the life narratives of indigenous Bunun women in Taiwan.

Background: Alcohol intoxication is a serious health issue among Taiwan's indigenous Malayo-Polynesian groups. No published studies address the drinking perceptions and behaviors of Bunun women.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the drinking perceptions and behaviors of Bunun women in Taiwan.

Exploring nursing staff's attitudes and use of music for older people with dementia in long-term care facilities.

Aims: This study aimed to explore nursing staff's attitudes and use of music for older people with dementia in long-term care facilities.

Background: Music has shown positive outcomes in managing behavioural symptoms of older people with dementia. Older people living in long-term care facilities often do not have access to trained music therapists.

Knowledge of using acetaminophen syrup and comprehension of written medication instruction among caregivers with febrile children.

Aim: This article aims to explore caregivers' knowledge of acetaminophen and comprehension of written medication instructions about acetaminophen syrup when administered to febrile children.

Background: Fever is one of the most common problems about which primary caregivers seek medical advice for their children. Administration of acetaminophen is the most common form of treatment for febrile children.

Surrogate mothers: aboriginal grandmothers raising grandchildren in Taiwan.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the experiences of Taiwanese aboriginal grandmothers when raising their grandchildren. Adopting a phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with 15 Taiwanese aboriginal grandmothers who served as primary caregiver to a grandchild or grandchildren. Data were analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological method.

A novel mechanism for decreasing plasma lipid level from imidazoline I-1 receptor activation in high fat diet-fed mice.

The imidazoline I-1 receptor (I-1 R) agonists are widely used to lower blood pressure, but their effects on hyperlipidemia are still obscure. The present study is aimed to evaluate the possible mechanism(s) of I-1 R in the regulation of lipid homeostasis. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) plays an important role in blood lipid homeostasis; however, the role of FXR in rilmenidine-induced blood lipid lowering action is still unknown.

Pubescent male students' attitudes towards menstruation in Taiwan: implications for reproductive health education and school nursing practice.

Aim: To explore male students' attitudes towards menstruation.

Background: Menstruation is a biological event that is often surrounded by secrecy and social stigma that causes anxiety amongst many young girls. A key element of this is the attitudes of young males towards this reproductive health issue.

Potential dose reduction of optimal ECG-controlled tube current modulation for 256-slice CT coronary angiography.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to design an optimized heart rate (HR)-dependent electrocardiogram (ECG) pulsing protocol for computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) on a 256-slice CT scanner and to assess its potential dose reduction retrospectively, based on the retrospective ECG gating data without dose modulation.

Materials And Methods: A total of 137 patients were enrolled to perform CTCA with a 256-slice scanner. Two independent radiologists graded image quality of coronary artery segments (1 = excellent, no motion artifacts; 4 = poor, severe motion artifacts) to define optimal reconstruction window in end-systolic phase, mid-diastolic phase, and the combination of both cardiac phases.

Multimedia education programme for patients with a stoma: effectiveness evaluation.

Aim: This paper is a report of an evaluation of the effectiveness of a multimedia education program in relation to stoma knowledge, self-care attitudes and behaviour with patients with a stoma in the postoperative period.

Background: Multimedia education programmes not only give patients with useful information in the absence of health professionals, but can also augment information given in traditional clinical practice. However, the literature on the effectiveness of different approaches to stoma education is limited.

The Chinese version of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise scale: validation study.

Background: Estimates of the reliability and validity of the English nine-item Outcome Expectations for Exercise (OEE) scale have been tested and found to be valid for use in various settings, particularly among older people, with good internal consistency and validity. Data on the use of the OEE scale among older Chinese people living in the community and how cultural differences might affect the administration of the OEE scale are limited.

Aim: To test the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise scale among older people.

Designing a tailored Web-based educational mammography program.

Breast cancer has become increasingly prevalent in Taiwanese women, especially in younger women. Unfortunately, early breast cancer detection may be hampered by Taiwanese women's beliefs about breast cancer, risk factors, and mammography. The Internet has become a powerful way to disseminate health information, but health education Web sites are frequently neither patient-centered nor theoretically based.

Decrease of plasma glucose by allantoin, an active principle of yam ( Dioscorea spp.), in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

The effect of allantoin, an active component of yam, on plasma glucose of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-diabetic rats) is investigated. Allantoin decreased plasma glucose levels in a dose-related manner, which was reduced by pretreatment with naloxone or naloxonazine. A concomitant increase in plasma β-endorphin, detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was observed.

The effect of walking intervention on blood pressure control: a systematic review.

Background: Hypertension is a major public health problem and a key risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. Increased physical activity has been recommended as an important lifestyle modification for the prevention and control of hypertension. However the optimal characteristics for a physical activity programme remain open to debate.

Analysis of factors found to affect self-perceived weight status in australia.

Background: Obesity and being overweight are two of the most important emerging public health issues in our time and regarded by the World Health Organization (1998) as a worldwide epidemic. The prevalence of obesity is greatest in the United States followed by Australia.

Purpose: This study examined potential associations between sociodemographic factors, physical activity and dietary habits, and self-perception of being overweight in Australian adults and proposed a range of health promotion strategies.

A systematic review and meta-ethnography of the qualitative literature: experiences of the menarche.

Aim: This article is a report of a systematic review and meta-ethnography of women's experience of menarche.

Background: Adolescents may experience menarche at different ages, but menarche remains an important milestone in the female maturation process, representing the transition from childhood to womanhood.

Design: Systematic review and meta-ethnography.

The effectiveness of multimedia learning education programs on knowledge, anxiety and pressure garment compliance in patients undergoing burns rehabilitation in Taiwan: an experimental study.

Aim: This study examined the effectiveness of multimedia learning education programmes (MLEPs) on knowledge, anxiety and pressure garment compliance behaviour of burn patients.

Background: MLEPs are increasingly suggested as education methods that can be used by health professionals in daily practice. A systematic review of the effectiveness of computer-based education demonstrates its acceptability to patients.

A preferred music listening intervention to reduce anxiety in older adults with dementia in nursing homes.

Aim: This article reports the results of a study evaluating a preferred music listening intervention for reducing anxiety in older adults with dementia in nursing homes.

Background: Anxiety can have a significant negative impact on older adults' functional status, quality of life and health care resources. However, anxiety is often under-diagnosed and inappropriately treated in those with dementia.

Effects of a tailored web-based educational intervention on women's perceptions of and intentions to obtain mammography.

Aims And Objectives: Breast cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in Taiwanese women. Mammography has been recognised as a powerful tool for breast cancer detection. This study compared the effectiveness of a web-based tailored educational intervention based on Transtheoretical Model concepts with currently available educational information for improving Taiwanese women's perceptions and intentions to obtain mammography.

Coronary artery air embolism: a potentially fatal complication of CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy.

CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy is becoming a widely accepted procedure for the diagnosis of pulmonary lesions. The rate of severe complications following such a procedure has been reported. Of these complications, air embolism is the most likely to be fatal.

Experiences of sexual harassment among elementary school students in Taiwan: implications for school nurses.

Sexual harassment is a significant issue in the lives of students. Understanding how young adolescents feel about sexual harassment and their coping strategies is a central element to guide school nursing interventions promoting sexual health. This study explored the sexual harassment experiences of young adolescents in Taiwan.

A new microsphere-based immunoassay for measuring the activity of transcription factors.

There are several traditional and well-developed methods for analyzing the activity of transcription factors, such as EMSA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and reporter gene activity assays. All of these methods have their own distinct disadvantages, but none can analyze the changes in transcription factors in the few cells that are cultured in the wells of 96-well titer plates. Thus, a new microsphere-based immunoassay to measure the activity of transcription factors (MIA-TF) was developed.