Keloid risk in patients with atopic dermatitis: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in Taiwan.

Objective: The pathogenesis of keloid is largely unknown. Because keloid and atopic dermatitis have overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms, we aimed to evaluate keloid risk in patients with atopic dermatitis.

Study Design: Population-based retrospective cohort study.

Effects of epinephrine on heart rate variability and cytokines in a rat sepsis model.

Catecholamines have both anti-inflammatory and vasoactive properties. A decreased cardiac response to catecholamines has been associated with a high risk of death in sepsis and septic shock. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of epinephrine (EPI) on heart rate variability (HRV) and autonomic balance, as well as cytokine levels, in a rat sepsis model.

Current Mechanistic Concepts in Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury is associated with serious clinical manifestations, including myocardial hibernation, acute heart failure, cerebral dysfunction, gastrointestinal dysfunction, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a critical medical condition that poses an important therapeutic challenge for physicians. In this review article, we present recent advances focusing on the basic pathophysiology of ischemia-reperfusion injury, especially the involvement of reactive oxygen species and cell death pathways.

Resveratrol regulates blood pressure by enhancing AMPK signaling to downregulate a Rac1-derived NADPH oxidase in the central nervous system.

Resveratrol is a polyphenol with pleiotropic effects against oxidative damage that has been widely implicated in lowering hypertension risk. The purpose of this study was to determine whether improve nitric oxide (NO) release in the brain, either through the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) or reduced Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, thereby reducing blood pressure (BP) in rats with fructose-induced hypertension. The rats were fed with 10% fructose or Crestor (rosuvastatin; 1.

The effect of magnolol on Ca homeostasis and its related physiology in human oral cancer cells.

Objective: Magnolol, a polyphenol compound from herbal medicines, was shown to alter physiology in various cell models. However, the effect of magnolol on Ca homeostasis and its related physiology in oral cancer cells is unclear. This study examined whether magnolol altered Ca signaling and cell viability in OC2 human oral cancer cells.

Rehabilitation Reduced Readmission and Mortality Risks in Patients With Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack: A Population-based Study.

Background: It remains unclear whether rehabilitation has an impact on reducing the long-term risk of mortality or readmission following stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Objectives: To investigate the association between the dosage and continuation of rehabilitation and the risk of outcome events (OEs) after stroke or TIA.

Research Design: A retrospective cohort study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance database.

Hyperpigmentation as a peculiar presentation of mycosis fungoides.

Hyperpigmented mycosis fungoides is an extremely rare subtype of mycosis fungoides. It presents as multiple pigmented macules and patches without poikilodermatous changes and characterized by a CD8+ phenotype on immunohistochemistry. This report describes a typical case of hyperpigmented mycosis fungoides in a 62-year-old woman, who presented with a 7-year history of multiple hyperpigmented macules and patches on the trunk and right leg with progression over this half a year.

Involvement of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Activation in Midkine-Mediated Central Hypotensive Effects.

The growth factor midkine (MK) has been implicated in various biologic and pathologic events. It has been shown that the peripheral influence of MK on cardiovascular regulation is due to an influence on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). The nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) is the primary integrative center for cardiovascular control and other autonomic functions in the central nervous system.

Knowledge gap regarding dementia care among nurses in Taiwanese acute care hospitals: A cross-sectional study.

Aim: The quality of dementia care in hospitals is typically substandard. Staff members are underprepared for providing care to older people with dementia. The objective of the present study was to examine dementia care knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding self-education about dementia care among nurses working in different wards.

Fructose induced neurogenic hypertension mediated by overactivation of p38 MAPK to impair insulin signaling transduction caused central insulin resistance.

Type 2 diabetes are at a high risk of complications related to hypertension, and reports have indicated that insulin levels may be associated with blood pressure (BP). Fructose intake has recently been reported to promote insulin resistance and superoxide formation. The aim of this study is to investigate whether fructose intake can enhance superoxide generation and impair insulin signaling in the NTS and subsequently elevate BP in rats with fructose-induced hypertension.

Fine Needle Aspiration Combined With Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight/Mass Spectrometry to Characterize Lipid Biomarkers for Diagnosing Accuracy of Breast Cancer.

Background: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology has been widely used for pathologic assessment of breast lesions. However, the examination suffers a risk of false-negative results owing to insufficient sample volumes, inaccurate sampling positions, nondefinitive cytologic features, or suboptimal cell preservation. One approach to improve its accuracy is using modern mass spectrometry to detect disease biomarkers, of which the tissue samples are collected through FNA.

Gene Delivery of Calreticulin Anti-Angiogenic Domain Attenuates the Development of Choroidal Neovascularization in Rats.

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a common pathological feature in neovascular age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of vision loss among elderly populations in developed countries. This study evaluated the effect of a novel endogenous inhibitor of angiogenesis, calreticulin anti-angiogenic domain (CAD), subconjunctivally delivered by an adenoviral vector (Ad-CAD) in a rat model of laser-induced CNV. CAD was expressed in Ad-CAD-infected cells and inhibited the angiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells in vitro.

Differential autophagic effects of vital dyes in retinal pigment epithelial ARPE-19 and photoreceptor 661W cells.

Indocyanine green (ICG) and brilliant blue G (BBG) are commonly used vital dyes to remove internal limiting membrane (ILM) in vitreoretinal surgery. The vital dyes have shown cytotoxic effects in ocular cells. Autophagy is a stress responsive pathway for either protecting cells or promoting cell death.

Osteoporosis in adult patients with atopic dermatitis: A nationwide population-based study.

The aim of this study was to investigate osteoporosis risk in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. This study included patients in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research dataset. The population-based study included all patients aged 20-49 years who had been diagnosed with AD during 1996-2010.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Substance Related Disorder: A 10-Year Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) is causally related to substance related disorder (SRD) is still debatable, especially in persons with no history of mental disorders at the time of injury. This study analyzed data in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database for 19,109 patients aged ≥18 years who had been diagnosed with TBI during 2000-2010. An additional 19,109 randomly selected age and gender matched patients without TBI (1 : 1 ratio) were enrolled in the control group.

Assessment of EGFR and ERBB2 (HER2) in Gastric and Gastroesophageal Carcinomas: EGFR Amplification is Associated With a Worse Prognosis in Early Stage and Well to Moderately Differentiated Carcinoma.

Epidermal growth factor receptor 1 (EGFR) and erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2/HER2) are frequently dysregulated in human cancers. We analyzed EGFR and ERBB2 status in 105 gastric and gastroesophageal junction carcinoma and their clinicopathologic features. For EGFR, 92 (88%) tumors were scored as 0, 2 (2%) as 1+, 7 (7%) as 2+, and 4 (3%) as 3+ by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and 4 (4%) tumors showed EGFR amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Nurses' perspectives on moral distress: A Q methodology approach.

Background: Moral distress occurs when nurses experience ethical dilemmas. Issues related to these dilemmas are addressed in some nursing education courses. Nurses' reaction to dilemma such as moral distress is relatively less noticed.

Increased migraine risk in osteoporosis patients: a nationwide population-based study.

Background: Osteoporosis and migraine are both important public health problems and may have overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms. The aim of this study was to use a Taiwanese population-based dataset to assess migraine risk in osteoporosis patients.

Methods: The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to analyse data for 40,672 patients aged ≥20 years who had been diagnosed with osteoporosis during 1996-2010.

Using thermal desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to rapidly determine antimicrobial preservatives in cosmetics.

Rationale: Characterization and quantification of permitted preservatives are important inspections to prevent the overuse of preservatives in authentic formulations. However, the complexity of sample matrices makes preservative determination in cosmetics a tedious process. A rapid analytical strategy to identify preservatives would insure large numbers of products are in compliance with government regulations.

Increased risk of osteoporosis in patients with erectile dysfunction: A nationwide population-based cohort study.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the risk of osteoporosis in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) by analyzing data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). From the Taiwan NHIRD, we analyzed data on 4460 patients aged ≥40 years diagnosed with ED between 1996 and 2010. In total, 17,480 age-matched patients without ED in a 1:4 ratio were randomly selected as the non-ED group.

Herpes zoster as a risk factor for osteoporosis: A 15-year nationwide population-based study.

The objective of this study was to investigate the risk of osteoporosis in patients with herpes zoster (HZ) infection using a nationwide population-based dataset. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to compare data between 11,088 patients aged 20 to 49 years diagnosed with HZ during 1996 to 2010 and a control group of 11,088 patients without HZ. Both cohorts were followed up until the end of 2010 to measure the incidence of osteoporosis.

Aberrant DNA hypomethylation of miR-196b contributes to migration and invasion of oral cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRs) are a class of small endogenous non-coding RNAs of ~21-24 nucleotides in length. Previous studies have indicated that miR-196b has either an oncogenic or tumor-suppressive function in various types of cancer. However, the biological role of miR-196b in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear.

Antioxidant enzymes in oral verrucous carcinoma.

Background: Verrucous carcinoma is a non-metastasizing variant of welldifferentiated squamous cell carcinoma, which has been associated with reactive oxygen species generated by betel quid chewing. Salivary antioxidant systems have been suggested to play a protective role in reducing the oxidative damage. Herein, we investigated the difference of the enzymatic antioxidant system expressions in oral verrucous carcinoma and oral squamous cell carcinoma.