Work competence of nurse aides" in a skill-mixed model hospital: the perspectives from both nurse aides and nurses

Hsiang-Wen Kung,Hui-Chen Hsu,Bih-O Lee 한국간호과학회 2021 한국간호과학회 학술대회 Vol.2021 No.10

Aim(s): Nurse aides provide a major support for long-term care services. However, research findings regarding the various aspects of nurse aides’ work competence that may facilitate or impede their work performance remain inconsistent. To compare th-e differences between the nurse aides’ and registered nurses’ perceptions of the nurse aides’ work competence. Method(s): This study was designed as a cross-sectional study, and convenience sampling w-as employed to recruit a sample that comprised 220 nurse aides and registered nurs-es who had served for more than three months at a regional teaching hospitalin southern Taiwan. The instruments consisted of the demographic data and the 36-it-em Nurse Aides’ Work Competence Scale. Result(s): There are no significant differences between the self-perceived and the nurse-s’ reported overall work competence of nurse aides. The results showed that th-e nurse aides had room for improving their work competence in terms of “pro-blem solving” and “activity design”. The nurse aides and resisted nurses differe-d significantly in terms of “activity design” because the nurse aides’ perception of their work competence in “activity design” was more positive than that repo-rted by the registered nurses. Conclusion(s): Nurse aides should be incorporated into cross-disciplinary teams. Activity design could be handled by other healthcare providers such as physical therapists or senior social workers.

Interleukin-20 targets podocytes and is upregulated in experimental murine diabetic nephropathy

Yu-Hsiang Hsu,Hsing-Hui Li,Junne-Ming Sung,Wei-Yu Chen,Ya-Chin Hou,Yun-Han Weng,Wei-Ting Lai,Chih-Hsing Wu,Ming-Shi Chang 생화학분자생물학회 2017 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.49 No.-

Interleukin (IL)-20, a proinflammatory cytokine of the IL-10 family, is involved in acute and chronic renal failure. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of IL-20 during diabetic nephropathy development. We found that IL-20 and its receptor IL-20R1 were upregulated in the kidneys of mice and rats with STZ-induced diabetes. In vitro, IL-20 induced MMP-9, MCP-1, TGF-β1 and VEGF expression in podocytes. IL-20 was upregulated by hydrogen peroxide, high-dose glucose and TGF-β1. In addition, IL-20 induced apoptosis in podocytes by activating caspase-8. In STZ-induced early diabetic nephropathy, IL-20R1-deficient mice had lower blood glucose and serum BUN levels and a smaller glomerular area than did wild-type controls. Anti-IL-20 monoclonal antibody (7E) treatment reduced blood glucose and the glomerular area and improved renal functions in mice in the early stage of STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy. ELISA showed that the serum IL-20 level was higher in patients with diabetes mellitus than in healthy controls. The findings of this study suggest that IL-20 induces cell apoptosis of podocytes and plays a role in the pathogenesis of early diabetic nephropathy.

Salivary transcriptomic biomarkers for detection of ovarian cancer: for serous papillary adenocarcinoma.

Lee, Yu-Hsiang,Kim, Jae Hoon,Zhou, Hui,Kim, Bo Wook,Wong, David T Springer 2012 Journal of molecular medicine Vol.90 No.4

<P>Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer due to lack of clear symptom and reliable screening biomarker in the early stage. The capability to detect the initiation of malignancy with a sensitive and effective approach is one of the most desirable goals for ovarian cancer therapy. In this study, we spearheaded noninvasive detection of ovarian cancer by salivary transcriptomic biomarkers, and evaluated the clinical utilities of discovered biomarkers using a clinical case-control study. To find salivary mRNA biomarkers, salivary transcriptomes in 11 ovarian cancer patients and 11 matched controls were profiled by Affymetrix HG-U133-Plus-2.0 array. The biomarker candidates selected from the microarray results were then subjected to clinical validation by RT-qPCR using an independent sample cohort including 21 ovarian cancer patients and 35 healthy controls. Seven downregulated mRNA biomarkers were validated. The logistic regression model revealed the combination of five validated biomarkers (AGPAT1, B2M, BASP2, IER3, and IL1B) can significantly discriminate ovarian cancer patients (n???=???21) from the healthy controls (n???=???35), yielding a receiver operating characteristic plot, area under the curve value of 0.909 with 85.7% sensitivity and 91.4% specificity. In summary, we have demonstrated that the RNA signatures in saliva could serve as biomarkers for detection of ovarian cancer with high sensitivity and specificity. This emerging approach with high-throughput, noninvasive, and effective advantages provides a feasible means for detection of systemic cancer, and opens a new avenue for early disease detection.</P>

Effects of an Anti-Smoking Program to Prevent Lung Cancer among Urban Aboriginals in Taiwan

Lin, Mei-Hsiang,Huang, Sheu-Jen,Shih, Whei-Mei Jean,Wang, Pao-Yu,Lin, Li-Hui,Hsu, Hsiu-Chin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Background and Purpose: Indigenous people who leave their hometowns and move to the city to earn a living became urban aboriginals. During the process of adapting to urban living situations, they may use various coping strategies such as smoking to overcome their stress. Therefore, it is crucial to provide health education including smoking prevention, increasing knowledge regarding of tobacco hazard, self-efficacy of anti-smoking, and adjusting smoking behavior so as to empower their anti-smoking motivation to prevent lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an anti-smoking program on urban aboriginals in Taiwan. Methods: A quasi-experimental study design with purposeful sampling was employed. A total of 125 aboriginal subjects were recruited from two local churches at Shu Lin area in northern Taiwan. Subjects were divided into an experimental group (n =64 ) and a control group (n = 61). Both took pre-tests in order to set baseline values, and only the experimental group participated for 3-weeks in the anti-smoking program classes. Both groups took post-tests immediately after the intervention in order to evaluate the immediate effects of the teaching program, and a follow-up test was conducted four weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way ANCOVA, and repeat measure ANCOVA. Results: After controlling for confounding variables, the results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the self-efficacy of anti-smoking and smoking behavior between experimental and control groups in the immediately post-test and the follow-up test (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant differences in the recognition of hazards of smoking at eiter time point. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The findings of this study revealed that the anti-smoking program effectively improved self-efficacy of anti-smoking, and decreased the smoking behavior in urban aboriginals. They provide useful information as a reference regarding of aboriginal health promotion to health providers. It is imperative that anti-smoking be reinforced for those regular smokers to prevent induction of lung cancer.

The effect of different colored light emitting diode illumination on egg laying performance, egg qualities, blood hormone levels and behavior patterns in Brown Tsaiya duck

Su, Chin-Hui,Cheng, Chih-Hsiang,Lin, Jung-Hsin,Liu, Hsiu-Chou,Yu, Yen-Ting,Lin, Chai-Ching,Chen, Wei-Jung Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2021 Animal Bioscience Vol.34 No.11

Objective: The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of different colors produced by light emitting diode (LED) on Brown Tsaiya ducks. Methods: A total of 144 female Brown Tsaiya ducks were randomly allocated into three individual cage rearing chambers with different LED illumination colors as treatments. Three different treatments were: i) white color, ii) blue color, and iii) red color. The experiment periods were from ducks 21 to 49 weeks of age, determined traits included i) egg laying performance, ii) feed intake, iii) egg shell breaking strength, iv) egg shell thickness, v) egg Haugh unit, vi) egg weight, vii) serum Estradiol and Progesterone concentration, and viii) behavior pattern. Results: The results indicated that when compared with white and blue color, red color could stimulate ducks sexual maturation and raised the egg laying performance. The red light group was also observed to have the highest feed intake among three treatments. The blue treatment had the lowest egg shell breaking strength and the highest egg weight among three treatments, nevertheless, no significant difference was observed among three treatments on egg shell thickness and egg Haugh unit. The red light group had higher serum estradiol concentration than the white and blue groups, but no significant difference among treatments on the serum Progesterone concentration was found. The results of behavior pattern indicated that red light group showed more feeding and less resting behavior compared to the blue light group. Conclusion: We found a potential of applying red light illumination in the indoor laying duck raising system with positive results on egg laying performance and acceptable egg weight, equivalent egg qualities compared to white and blue light.

Credit Rating Anomaly in the Taiwan Stock Market

Kuan-Cheng Ko,Hsiang-Hui Chu,Shinn-Juh Lin,Hsiao-Wei Ho 한국증권학회 2013 Asia-Pacific Journal of Financial Studies Vol.42 No.3

Rational asset-pricing theory asserts that higher risk should be accompanied by higher expected return. The credit risk puzzle, however, states a negative cross-sectional relationship between credit risk and future stock returns (Journal of Finance, 53, 1998, 1131; Journal of Finance, 57, 2002, 2317; Journal of Finance, 63, 2008, 2899; Journal of Financial Markets, 12, 2009, 469). This paper examines the credit risk puzzle using an independent dataset from Taiwan’s stock market. We document a significantly positive premium between highest- and lowest-rated stocks in both portfolios and individual stocks, and demonstrate that it cannot be explained by well-known asset-pricing models, including the CAPM, Journal of Financial Economics, 33, 1993, 3 three-factor model, and Journal of Financial Economics 82, 2006, 631 liquidity-augmented CAPM. Unlike the evidence collected from the US market, rating downgrades only have limited impact on the cross-sectional variation of stock returns in Taiwan. Further analysis indicates that credit rating serves as a better proxy for distress risk, and is thus priced in Taiwan’s stock market.

Screening of Nitrosamine Impurities in Sartan Pharmaceuticals by GC-MS/MS

( Shu-Han Chang ),( Hui-Yu Ho ),( Chi-Zong Zang ),( Ya-Hui Hsu ),( Mei-Chih Lin ),( Su-Hsiang Tseng ),( Der-Yuan Wang ) 한국질량분석학회 2021 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.12 No.2

Probable human carcinogenic compounds nitrosamines, have been detected as by-product impurities in sartan pharmaceuticals in recent years which has drawn worries for medication safety. To provide a sensitive and effective method for the quality control of sartan pharmaceuticals, this study established a feasible gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of 13 nitrosamines. The target analytes were separated on a DB-WAX Ultra Inert column (30 m × 0.25 mm; i.d., 0.25 μm) and were then subjected to electron impact ionization in multiple reaction monitoring mode. The established method was validated and further employed to analyze authentic samples. Limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) of the 13 nitrosamines were 15-250 ng/g and 50-250 ng/g, respectively, which also exhibited intra-day and inter-day accuracies of 91.4-104.8%, thereby satisfying validation criteria. Five nitrosamines, viz., Nnitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiphenylamine, N-nitrosomorpholine, and N-nitrosopiperidine were detected at concentrations above their LODs in 68 positive samples out of 594 authentic samples from seven sartans.

Credit Rating Anomaly in Taiwan Stock Market

Kuan-Cheng Ko,Shinn-Juh Lin,Hsiang-Hui Chu,Hsiao-Wei Ho 한국재무학회 2012 한국재무학회 학술대회 Vol.2012 No.09

Rational asset-pricing theory asserts that higher risk should be accompanied by higher expected return. The credit-risk puzzle, however, states a negative cross- sectional relationship between credit risk and future stock returns (Dichev, 1998; Grin and Lemmon, 2002; Campbell et al., 2008; Avramov et al., 2009). This pa- per examines the credit-risk puzzle using an independent dataset from Taiwan's stock market. We document the existence of the credit-risk premium in both portfolios and individual stocks, and demonstrate that it can not be explained by well-known asset-pricing models which include the CAPM, Fama and French's (1993) three-factor model, and Liu's (2006) liquidity-augmented CAPM. Unlike the evidence in the U.S. market, rating downgrades only have limited impact on stock returns in Taiwan. Further analysis indicates that credit rating serves as a better proxy for distress risk, and is thus priced in Taiwan's stock market.

BIOFILM FORMATION : THE EFFECTS OF HYDRODYNAMIC AND SUBSTRATE FEEDING PATTERN IN THREE PHASE DRAFT - TUBE FLUIDIZED BED FOR NITRIFICATION PROCESS

( Sheng Shung Cheng,Wen Chin Chen,Hui Hsiang Hwang ) 한국물환경학회 1997 제6차 국제수질보전학회 아시아 태평양지역 학술회의 Vol.1 No.-

Factors Related to Treatment Refusal in Taiwanese Cancer Patients

Chiang, Ting-Yu,Wang, Chao-Hui,Lin, Yu-Fen,Chou, Shu-Lan,Wang, Ching-Ting,Juang, Hsiao-Ting,Lin, Yung-Chang,Lin, Mei-Hsiang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.8

Background: Incidence and mortality rates for cancer have increased dramatically in the recent 30 years in Taiwan. However, not all patients receive treatment. Treatment refusal might impair patient survival and life quality. In order to improve this situation, we proposed this study to evaluate factors that are related to refusal of treatment in cancer patients via a cancer case manager system. Materials and Methods: This study analysed data from a case management system during the period from 2010 to 2012 at a medical center in Northern Taiwan. We enrolled a total of 14,974 patients who were diagnosed with cancer. Using the PRECEDE Model as a framework, we conducted logistic regression analysis to identify independent variables that are significantly associated with refusal of therapy in cancer patients. A multivariate logistic regression model was also applied to estimate adjusted the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results: A total of 253 patients (1.69%) refused treatment. The multivariate logistic regression result showed that the high risk factors for refusal of treatment in cancer patient included: concerns about adverse effects (p<0.001), poor performance(p<0.001), changes in medical condition (p<0.001), timing of case manager contact (p=.026), the methods by which case manager contact patients (p<0.001) and the frequency that case managers contact patients (${\geq}10times$) (p=0.016). Conclusions: Cancer patients who refuse treatment have poor survival. The present study provides evidence of factors that are related to refusal of therapy and might be helpful for further application and improvement of cancer care.