Combined Assessment of Serum Alpha-Synuclein and Rab35 is a Better Biomarker for Parkinson’s Disease

Hung-Li Wang,Chin-Song Lu,Tu-Hsueh Yeh,Yu-Ming Shen,Yi-Hsin Weng,Ying-Zu Huang,Rou-Shayn Chen,Yu-Chuan Liu,Yi-Chuan Cheng,Hsiu-Chen Chang,Ying-Ling Chen,Yu-Jie Chen,Yan-Wei Lin,Chia Chen Hsu,Huang-Li 대한신경과학회 2019 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.15 No.4

Background and Purpose It is essential to develop a reliable predictive serum biomarker for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Te accumulation of alpha-synuclein (αSyn) and up-regulated expression of Rab35 participate in the etiology of PD. Te purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the combined assessment of serum αSyn and Rab35 is a useful predictive biomarker for PD. Methods Serum levels of αSyn or Rab35 were determined in serum samples from 59 sporadic PD patients, 19 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) patients, 20 multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients, and 60 normal controls (NC). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were calculated to determine the diagnostic accuracy of αSyn or/and Rab35 in discriminating PD patients from NC or atypical parkinsonian patients. Results The levels of αSyn and Rab35 were increased in PD patients. The serum level of Rab35 was positively correlated with that of αSyn in PD patients. Compared to analyzing αSyn or Rab35 alone, the combined analysis of αSyn and Rab35 produced a larger area under the ROC curve and performed better in discriminating PD patients from NC, MSA patients, or PSP patients. When age was dichotomized at 55, 60, 65, or 70 years, the combined assessment of αSyn and Rab35 for classifying PD was better in the group below the cutof age than in the group above the cutof age. Conclusions Combined assessment of serum αSyn and Rab35 is a better biomarker for discriminating PD patients from NC or atypical parkinsonian patients, and is a useful predictive biomarker for younger sporadic PD patients.

Preliminary Development of Humanistic Care Indicators for Residents in Nursing Homes: A Delphi Technique

I Lee,Hsiu-Hung Wang 한국간호과학회 2014 Asian Nursing Research Vol.8 No.1

Purpose: The overwhelming majority of residents among nursing homes are the elderly in Taiwan. Previous studies have shown the dissatisfaction with care from the viewpoints of nursing home residents. For improving the care quality of nursing homes, the study aims to develop humanistic care indicators (HCIs). Methods: The Delphi technique was used to develop the HCIs through the consensus of 23 experts. Through three rounds of questionnaires, the expert panel reached a consensus. Results: Forty-four HCIs for nursing home were identified and grouped into eight elements: friendly environment, holistic care, empathy, individualization, autonomy, decision-making participation, appropriate use of tools, and serious assessment of customer opinion. Conclusion: This study compiled related literature and conducted a Delphi survey to transform humanistic care from an abstract concept into concrete indicators for evaluation. These findings could serve as a guideline for the care providers in nursing homes. Further studies are needed to test the practicability of HCIs and evaluate the outcomes of applying HCIs in nursing homes.

Influencing Factors of Intention to Receive Pap Tests in Vietnamese Women who Immigrated to Taiwan for Marriage

Fang-Hsin Lee,Hsiu-Hung Wang,Yung-Mei Yang,Joh-Jong Huang,Hsiu-Min Tsai 한국간호과학회 2016 Asian Nursing Research Vol.10 No.3

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the factors associated with the intention to receive a Pap test among married immigrant women of Vietnamese origin living in Taiwan. Methods: This was a cross-sectional community-based study.We enrolled 281 women aged 30 years and over in the study, from July 2013 to January 2014. The participants' characteristics, cervical cancer knowledge, Pap test knowledge, attitudes toward cervical cancer, barriers to receiving a Pap test, fatalism, and intention to receive a Pap test, were measured using self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the variables associated with participants' intentions to receive a Pap test. Results: Vietnamese women with low scores on the measures of cervical cancer knowledge and perceived barriers to receiving a Pap test were more willing to receive the test, as were those with high scores on the measures of Pap test knowledge and fatalism. Women who received a Pap test in the previous year were more willing to receive a Pap test within the next 3 years. Conclusions: Preventive healthcare for immigrant women should be a focus of nurses. The development of culturally appropriate health education and strategies should enhance their knowledge of Pap tests and reduce perceived barriers to Pap test participation. This study's results can be a reference for nurses who work with immigrant women.

The Action Research

Tzu-Chi Lin,Hsiu-Hung Wang,Shin-Lan Lin 한국간호과학회 2009 한국간호과학회 학술대회 Vol.2009 No.10

The Presence of Borrelia valaisiana-Related Genospecies in Ticks and a Rodent in Taiwan

Chun-Man Huang,Hsi-Chieh Wang,Ying-Chun Lin,Shih-Hui Chiu,Ying-Shun Kao,Pei-Lung Lee,Hsiu-I Wang,Ruei-Chen Hung,Huang-I Chan,Ho-Sheng Wu,Chuen-Sheue Chiang,Jung-Jung Mu 한국미생물학회 2010 The journal of microbiology Vol.48 No.6

A field survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in six counties of Taiwan. Spirochetes were successfully isolated from one rodent ear sample out of 485 rodent ears and 53live, fed tick (Ixodes granulatus) samples. The spirochetes were confirmed to be B. burgdorferi s.l. by real-time PCR. In addition, 23 of 113 tick samples were tested positive for Borrelia DNA according to real-time PCR. The Borrelia isolate from the rodent and the 23 Borrelia DNA samples from the ticks were identified as B. valaisiana-related genospecies by phylogenetic analysis based on flagellin gene sequences. These findings suggest that the Borrelia valaisiana-related strains are maintained in a zoonotic cycle between tick vectors and reservoir hosts in Taiwan.

Conditions and Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence among Taiwanese Women

Fang-Hsin Lee,Yung-Mei Yang,Hsiu-Hung Wang,Joh-Jong Huang,Shu-Chen Chang 한국간호과학회 2015 Asian Nursing Research Vol.9 No.2

Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health issue among women. IPV victims usually seek help from hospitals, and emergency nurses are the frontline staff with whom the victims come into contact first. This study examined the conditions and patterns of IPV in southern Taiwan. Methods: From designated hospitals in Kaohsiung under the Department of Health Injury Assessment Clinic, data were collected on 497 women regarding their injury assessment for IPV reported to the Kaohsiung City Government. Results: Taiwanese survivors were older compared to immigrant survivors. Taiwanese survivors also had higher education levels compared to immigrant survivors. Taiwanese survivors had higher employment rate than immigrant survivors did. The time between IPV and medical help seeking was longer for divorced than married women. Conclusions: These results can facilitate understanding of the conditions and patterns of IPV in Taiwan, increase the awareness of nurses, especially the emergency nurses for the prevention of IPV, and increase professional competency for the provision of appropriate healthcare services to survivors of IPV. Copyright © 2015, Korean Society of Nursing Science. Published by Elsevier. All rights reserved.

Determining optimal number of cores in a submarine power cable

Hsieh Meng-Chang,Chen Bang-Fuh,Wang Yanyang,Chang Hsun-Cheng,Liu Wen-Hsiu,Hsu Hung-Lin 대한조선학회 2022 International Journal of Naval Architecture and Oc Vol.14 No.1

Submarine power cables must be reinforced and must possess suitable mechanical properties to meet operational requirements for complex marine environments. This study numerically investigated the mechanical properties of submarine power cables under tensile, torsional, and compressive loading. The optimal number of cores was determined according to the variation in tensile and torsional stiffness with radial compressive pressure. As the radial compressive pressure increased, the tensile and torsional stiffness of the four- and five-core cable models decreased marginally compared with those of the threecore cable model; thus, the five-core cable model was superior to the two-, three-, and four-core cable models in terms of radial deformation and contact stress. The two-core cable model was superior to the three-, four-, and five-core cable models in terms of tensile and torsional strength. The results of this study can serve as a reference in the design of submarine power cables.

Protective Factors of Demoralization among Cancer Patients in Taiwan: An Age-matched and Gender-matched Study

Yu-Chi Li,Chung-Han Ho,Hsiu-Hung Wang 한국간호과학회 2017 Asian Nursing Research Vol.11 No.3

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the protective factors of demoralization in cancer patients via investigation of cancer patients' demographic and disease characteristics. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. We used a structured questionnaire, which contained items on demographic and disease characteristics, as well as the Demoralization Scale Mandarin Version (DS-MV), with a cutoff of 30 or more indicating high demoralization. Data were analyzed with age-matched and gender-matched conditional logistic regression analysis. For the study, 428 questionnaires were delivered and 411 were recovered. After being age-matched and gender-matched, 182 participants of high demoralization (DS-MV > 30) and low demoralization (DS-MV 30) were obtained respectively, for a total of 364 participants. Results: Cancer patients' demoralization was significantly related to family support (p = .019), education (p = .049), and monthly income (p = .001). Family support [odds ratio = 0.38; p = .028; 95% confidence interval (0.16, 0.91)] and monthly income [odds ratio = 0.49; p = .009; 95% confidence interval (0.29, 0.84)] were protective factors of demoralization in cancer patients. Conclusion: Early and appropriate demoralization assessment of cancer patients' demographic and disease characteristics is very important in clinical settings. Healthcare providers might regularly monitor demoralization in cancer patients, and develop related nursing care guidelines or treatment for demoralization in cancer patients. The study results can be a reference for healthcare providers who work with cancer patients.

The Effectiveness of Dignity Therapy as Applied to End-of-Life Patients with Cancer in Taiwan: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Yu-Chi Li,Yin-Hsun Feng,Hui-Ying Chiang,Shu-Ching Ma,Hsiu-Hung Wang 한국간호과학회 2020 Asian Nursing Research Vol.14 No.4

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of dignity therapy for end-of-lifepatients with cancer. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental study design with a nonrandomized controlled trial. Dignity therapy was used as an intervention in the experimental group, and general visit was used in thecontrol group. Thirty end-of-life patients with cancer were recruited, with 16 in the experimental groupand 14 in the control group. Outcome variables were the participants' dignity, demoralization, anddepression. Measurements were taken at the following time points: pre-test (before intervention), posttest1 (the 7th day), and post-test 2 (the 14th day). The effectiveness of the intervention in the twogroups was analyzed using the generalized estimating equation, with the p value set to be less than .05. Results: After dignity therapy, the end-of-life patients with cancer reflected increased dignity significantly[b ¼ 37.08, standard error (SE) ¼ 7.43, Wald c2 ¼ 24.94, p < .001], whereas demoralization(b¼ 39.55, SE ¼ 6.42,Wald c2 ¼ 37.95, p < .001) and depression (b¼ 12.01, SE ¼ 2.17,Wald c2 ¼ 30.71,p < .001) were both reduced significantly. Conclusion: Clinical nurses could be adopting dignity therapy to relieve psychological distress andimprove spiritual need in end-of-life patients with cancer. Future studies might be expanded tolooking at patients vis- a-vis end-of-life patients without cancer to improve their psychologicaldistress. These results provide reference data for the care of end-of-life patients with cancer fornursing professionals.

Dignity and Related Factors in Patients with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study

Li Yu-Chi,Feng Yin-Hsun,Ma Shu-Ching,Wang Hsiu-Hung 한국간호과학회 2023 Asian Nursing Research Vol.17 No.1

Purpose: Dignity is a basic human right that is related to psychological distress factors in patients with cancer such as depression and demoralization. Hence, the dignity issue is of great importance to healthcare professionals. The present study aimed to advise healthcare professionals regarding the related distress factors of dignity in patients with cancer by investigating its relationship with patients’ demographics, disease characteristics, and psychological distress. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study design. A convenience sample of 267 patients with cancer from a medical center was recruited into this study. Each patient completed demographics and disease characteristics questionnaires, the Patient Dignity Inventory Mandarin Version, the Demoralization Scale Mandarin Version (DS-MV), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software. Results: Dignity was significantly correlated with age, demoralization, and depression. Cancer patients aged 65 or above were more likely to have a lower sense of dignity. In the present study, the sensitivity and specificity of the Patient Dignity Inventory Mandarin Version for demoralization (DS-MVꠑ30) were 84.8% and 79.1% and for depression (PHQ-9ꠑ10) were 73.8% and 70.9% in patients with cancer with an aggregate score of 35 or above. Conclusions: Dignity is significantly correlated with personal demographic characteristics and psychoꠓlogical distress in patients with cancer. The results provide reference data for healthcare professionals to understand and enable dignity in patients with cancer and aid in the development of methods that promote their dignity