The Influence of Resilience on the Coping Strategies in Patients with Primary Brain Tumors

Shu-Yuan Liang,Hui-Chun Liu,Yu-Ying Lu,Shu-Fang Wu,Ching-Hui Chien,Shiow-Luan Tsay 한국간호과학회 2020 Asian Nursing Research Vol.14 No.1

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of variance in the coping strategies of patients with brain tumors that could be accounted for by resilience. Methods: This cross-sectional survey involved 95 patients who had experienced surgical, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy therapies for their brain tumors at least 1 month before data collection. The investigator collected data using the scales of the Ways of Coping Checklist-Revised and Resilience Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t tests, analysis of variance, Pearson product–moment correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: The results revealed that resilience was significantly positively associated with patients' problem-focused coping (r = .65, p < .001) and total coping (r = .49, p < .001). In addition, resilience accounted for 27% (R2inc = .27, p < .001) and 16% (R2inc = .16, p < .001) of the distinct variances in predicting patients’ problem-focused coping and total coping. Conclusion: The current results provide evidence to support the importance of resilience in shaping the coping strategies of relevant patients. As resilience shows a crucial element in patient coping with brain tumors, health team members should develop and employ appropriate strategies to improve the resilience of patients with brain tumors.

Study on the preparation of nano-flaky anatase titania layer and their photovoltaic application

Shu-Yuan Wu,Wen-Chi Lo,Keh-Chang Chen,Ju-Liang He 한국물리학회 2010 Current Applied Physics Vol.10 No.2

Titania (TiO2), known to have wide energy band gap, can greatly absorb dye if specific surface area can significantly be increased and hence the photovoltaic efficiency. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on mesoporous titania has been drawn much attention over the past few years. An attempt in this study is to employ micro-arc oxidation (MAO) process and alkali treatment to develop titania layer with very high specific surface area on pure titanium surface. Specimens were applied an anodic dc voltage at 400–500 V in a phosphate electrolytic solution during MAO process, followed by the alkali treatment in 1.25 M NaOH solution to produce nano-flaky anatase TiO2 on surface, with nano-flakes about 50 nm in dimension thus largely increase specific surface area. Result of photovoltaic efficiency measurement of the assembled DSSC device show that ultimate efficiency (0.23%) can be obtained for the specimen postalkali treated in 1.25 M NaOH solution, which exhibits the highest surface area and thus the enhanced dye-absorbing efficiency.

Gender Differences Associated with Pain Characteristics and Treatment in Taiwanese Oncology Outpatients

Liang, Shu-Yuan,Wang, Tsae-Jyy,Wu, Shu-Fang,Chao, Ta-Chung,Chuang, Yeu-Hui,Tsay, Shiow-Luan,Tung, Heng-Hsin,Lee, Ming-Der Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.7

The purpose of this descriptive and comparative study was to examine gender differences relevant to pain intensity, opioid prescription patterns and opioid consumption in Taiwanese oncology outpatients. The 92 participants had been prescribed opioid analgesics for cancer-related pain at least once in the past week and were asked to complete the Brief Pain Inventory - Chinese questionnaire and to recall the dosage of each opioid analgesic that they had ingested within the previous 24 hours. For opioid prescriptions and consumption, all analgesics were converted to morphine equivalents. The results revealed a significant difference between males and female minimum pain thresholds (t = 2.38, p = 0.02) and current pain thresholds (t = 2.12, p = 0.04), with males reporting a higher intensity of pain than females. In addition, this study found that males tended to use prescribed opioid analgesics more frequently than females on the bases of both around the clock (ATC) (t = 1.90, p = 0.06) and ATC plus as needed (ATC + PRN) (t = 2.33, p = 0.02). However, there was no difference between males and females in opioid prescriptions on an ATC basis (t = 0.52, p = 0.60) or at an ATC + PRN basis (t = 0.40, p = 0.69). The results suggest that there may be a gender bias in the treatment of cancer pain, supporting the proposal of routine examination of the effect of gender on cancer pain management. These findings suggest that clinicians should be particularly aware of potential gender differences during pain monitoring and the consumption of prescribed opioid analgesics.

Relationship Between Belief about Analgesics, Analgesic Adherence and Pain Experience in Taiwanese Cancer Outpatients

Liang, Shu-Yuan,Chen, Kang-Pan,Tsay, Shiow-Luan,Wu, Shu-Fang,Chuang, Yeu-Hui,Wang, Tsae-Jyy,Tung, Heng-Hsin,Cheng, Su-Fen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.2

Social and behavioral scientists have proposed that a person's belief system crucially influences his or her behaviour, and therefore may affect outcomes of pain management. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between analgesic beliefs, analgesic adherence and pain experience amongst Taiwanese cancer outpatients. The cross-sectional study included 92 oncology outpatients in two teaching hospitals in the Taipei area of Taiwan. The research instruments included the Pain Opioid Analgesic Beliefs Scale-Cancer (POABS-CA), opioid adherence, and the Brief Pain Inventory-Chinese (BPI-Chinese). Beliefs about pain and opioids demonstrated a significant relationship with patients' opioid adherence (r = -0.30, p < 0.01). The more negative beliefs regarding opioids and pain the patient had, the worse their adherence to around the clock (ATC) analgesic regimen. However, there was no significant correlation between opioid belief and pain experience. As well, there were no significant relationships between adherence to opioid regimen and any of the measures of pain experience. The study highlights the potential importance of a patient's pain and opioid beliefs in adherence to pain medication.

Cryopreservation of in Vitro Shoot Tips of Banana by Vitrification and Its Regeneration

Li Ming Wu,Ji Wu Zeng,Shu Ang Peng,Gan Jun Yi,Bi Rong Zhou,Yuan Li Wu 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-

Development and Preliminary Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of Symptom-Management Self-Efficacy Scale for Breast Cancer Related to Chemotherapy

Shu-Yuan Liang,Wei-Wen Wu,Chiu-Ya Kuo,Yu-Ying Lu 한국간호과학회 2015 Asian Nursing Research Vol.9 No.4

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and preliminarily evaluate the reliability and validity of the Symptom-Management Self-Efficacy ScaleeBreast Cancer (SMSES-BC) related to chemotherapy. Methods: The study included three stages. This paper presents the results of stage 2 and stage 3. In total, 34 items in the SMSES-BC were found during stage 1 from qualitative findings, a literature review, and expert suggestions; the 34 items were used for the psychometric properties test. Test-retest reliability and Cronbach a were assessed in the first sample, which included 45 participants for the pilot test (stage 2). The second sample, which included 152 patients, was used to assess the construct validity and concurrent validity (stage 3). Results: The pilot test results revealed a test-retest reliability of .73 (p < .001) and Cronbach a coefficient of .96 for the total scale. Three factors (managing chemotherapy-related symptoms, acquiring problem solving, and managing emotional and interpersonal disturbances) were identified from exploratory factor analysis. Correlation coefficient r was .40 (p < .001), which supported the association between SMSES-BC and the General Self-Efficacy Scale for concurrent validity. Conclusions: The study results demonstrate acceptable reliability and validity for the SMSES-BC that was developed for measuring symptom-management self-efficacy related to chemotherapy for patients with breast cancer. This study suggests further research to validate the construct of the SMSES-BC.

Three homologous genes encoding functional D8-sphingolipid desaturase in Populus tomentosa

Shu-Fen Li,Zan-Min Hu,Guo-Jun Zhang,Ying-Chun Yuan,Cong-Hui Wang,Wu-Jun Gao,Chuan-Liang Deng,Long-Dou Lu 한국유전학회 2014 Genes & Genomics Vol.36 No.3

Δ8-sphingolipid desaturase is characterized by itsability to catalyze desaturation at the C8 position of the longchainbase of sphingolipids in plants. No previous studieshave been conducted on genes encoding Δ8-sphingolipiddesaturases in the woody plant Populus tomentosa. In thisstudy, three genes that encode Δ8-sphingolipid desaturasewere isolated fromP. tomentosa. Among these genes, PtD8Aand PtD8B showed high sequence similarity; whereas PtD8Cexhibited large sequence divergence.RT-PCRresults showedthat PtD8A and PtD8B were expressed in all tissues detected,whereas PtD8C was not expressed in roots. Heterologousexpression in yeast revealed that PtD8A/B/C were functionalΔ8-sphingolipid desaturases, and can catalyze the C18-phytosphingeninedesaturation to produce 8(Z)- and 8(E)-C18-phytosphingenine.However, the conversion rate and ratios ofthe two products differed. Compared with control cells,transgenic yeasts expressing PtD8A/B/C exhibited enhancedaluminum tolerance. Our findings further elucidated thebiochemical functions and evolutionary history ofΔ8-sphingolipid desaturases in plants. Candidate genes forbreeding new poplar germplasm resources with enhancedtolerance ability to aluminium were also provided.

Therapeutic Efficacy of a New Procedure for Male Urinary Incontinence Combining a Suburethral Polypropylene Mesh and Cardiovascular Patch

Shu-Yu Wu,Yuan-Hong Jiang,Hann-Chorng Kuo 대한배뇨장애요실금학회 2017 International Neurourology Journal Vol.21 No.1

Purpose: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in men is a complication secondary to prostatectomy or resulting from neurological lesions. This study presents our experiences with male suburethral slings over the past decade. Methods: In this study, we considered patients who presented with SUI and were diagnosed with an intrinsic sphincteric deficiency due to postprostatectomy incontinence (PPI) or other causes (non-PPI). Patients who underwent the suburethral sling procedure using a polypropylene mesh and a cardiovascular patch were retrospectively included. An urodynamic study was performed before and after the operation. Global response assessment (GRA) and SUI grading were used for surgical outcome. The revision rate and the infection rate were also evaluated. Results: A total 31 patients were enrolled in this study; the mean patient age was 59.5±18.9 years, and the mean follow-up period was 36.9±29.4 months. Fourteen patients comprised the non-PPI group and 17 were in the PPI group. The preoperative SUI of all patients were categorized as a moderate to severe problem according to the SUI grade, with a mean score of 2.32±0.48 before the operation and 0.48±0.57 after the operation. With a mean score of 2.35±0.71, GRA showed that the patients were satisfied with the treatment. After the sling procedure, 4 patients (13%) reported a mild improvement, 12 (38.7%) a moderate improvement, while 15 (48.4%) reported an excellent improvement. Six patients (19.4%), including 5 from the non-PPI group (35.7%) and 1 (5.9%) from the PPI group (P=0.037), underwent sling removal because of infection. Conclusions: The male suburethral sling procedure using a polypropylene mesh and a cardiovascular patch is a safe, efficacious, and inexpensive surgical procedure for PPI. In cases of neurological incontinence, however, the higher infection rate in non-PPI patients means that they should be carefully managed.

Novel Two-dimensional Network Based on Amino-acid-octamolybdate Bridged by Second Metals: {M(H₂O)₃(pro)Mo₄O₁₃}₂·2H₂O (pro = proline, M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn)

Wu, Xiao-Yuan,Lu, Can-Zhong,Xia, Chang-Kun,Chen, Shu-Mei,Liu, Jiu-Hui,Chen, Li-Juan,Yang, Wen-Bin Korean Chemical Society 2006 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.27 No.8

Four isostructural amino-acid-based polyoxomolybdates, {$M(H_2O)_3(pro)Mo_4O_{13}$}$_2{\cdot}2H_2O$ (pro = proline, M = Co (1), Ni (2), Cu (3), Zn (4)), have been synthesized and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR spectrum, TG analysis. The structures of 1-4 are layered networks built up from {$Mo_8O_{26}(pro)_2$}$^{4-}$ units and {$M(H_2O)_3O_3$} octahedra, the uncoordinated water molecules occupying the interlayer regions.

Long-term Outcomes of Augmentation Enterocystoplasty in Patients With End-Stage Bladder Diseases: A Single-Institute Experience Involving 102 Patients

Shu-Yu Wu,Yuan-Hong Jiang,Hann-Chorng Kuo 대한배뇨장애요실금학회 2017 International Neurourology Journal Vol.21 No.2

Purpose: Augmentation enterocystoplasty (AE) has been shown to improve clinical symptoms in patients with end-stage bladder disease (ESBD). Herein, we report the long-term outcomes of a series of patients with different etiologies of ESBD who received AE. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 102 patients with ESBD who received AE at the Hualien Tzu Chi General Hospital from 1992 to 2014. ESBD in this study was defined as including neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) due to spinal cord injury (SCI) or myelomeningocele, inflammatory bladder disease (IBD), ESBD occurring after pelvic cancer surgery, and other etiologies. Complications including active lower urinary tract problems and urinary tract infection (UTI), as well as patients’ self-reported satisfaction with the procedure, were evaluated. Results: A total of 102 patients were included in the study. A majority of patients received AE for NLUTD (n=43), followed by IBD (n=38), ESBD after pelvic cancer surgery (n=15), and the other etiologies (n=6). Patients had a mean age of 39.4±18.7 years and were followed for a mean of 78 months. All patients had significantly increased cystometric bladder capacity and compliance at the time of follow-up. Fifty-four patients (52.9%) reported moderate to excellent satisfaction with the outcome, and there were no significant differences among the groups (P=0.430). The most common reason for dissatisfaction was the need for clean intermittent catheterization (CIC; 41.7%), followed by urinary incontinence (25.0%) and recurrent UTI (16.7%). Conclusions: AE is a safe and effective procedure for patients with ESBD. Postoperative urinary incontinence and UTI as well as the need for CIC may affect quality of life and decrease patient satisfaction.