The early predictive value of frailty for health-related quality of life among elderly patients with cancer receiving curative chemotherapy.

Changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among elderly patients with cancer before and after receiving curative treatment, such as chemotherapy, have always been an important consideration in physician-patient treatment decision-making. Although frailty assessment can help predict the effects of chemotherapy, there is a lack of relevant literature on its effectiveness in predicting post-chemotherapy HRQOL. Therefore, this study investigated the early predictive value of pre-chemotherapy frailty assessment for post-chemotherapy HRQOL among elderly patients with cancer receiving curative chemotherapy. From September 2016 to November 2018, this study enrolled elderly patients with cancer aged ≥ 65 years (N = 178), who were expected to receive chemotherapy at three hospitals in Taiwan. The mean age of patients was 71.70 years (SD = 5.46 years) and half of them were female (n = 96, 53.9%). A comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed to measure frailty in 178 participants one week before receiving chemotherapy (T0). Further, the HRQOL of the elderly patients with cancer was assessed again, four weeks after chemotherapy (T1). After controlling for demographic variables, this study evaluated the predictive value of frailty for HRQOL using a hierarchical regression analysis. A total of 103 (57.9%) participants met the frailty criteria. The results showed that 31.1%-56.7% of the variance in the seven domains of HRQOL could be explained by demographic variables and the presence or absence of frailty. This suggests that the presence or absence of frailty is an important predictor of the illness burden domain (ß = 9.5; p < .05) of HRQOL. Frailty affects the illness burden domain of HRQOL in elderly patients with cancer. Finally, the administration of frailty assessments before treatment is recommended as a reference for patient treatment decision-making.

Detection of a negative correlation between prescription of Chinese herbal products containing coumestrol, genistein or daidzein and risk of subsequent endometrial cancer among tamoxifen-treated female breast cancer survivors in Taiwan between 1998 and 2008: A population-based study.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Tamoxifen users sometimes seek complementary and alternative medicine advice for treatment of a variety of illness and co-administer with phytoestrogen-containing herbs, resulting in an increasing concern of its influence in subsequent endometrial cancer risk. Our study aims to determine the prevalence of Chinese herbal products containing coumestrol, genistein, or daidzein and their association with subsequent endometrial cancer risk among tamoxifen-treated breast cancer survivors in Taiwan. METHODS: We selected all patients who were newly diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and received tamoxifen treatment between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2008, from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Among the 26,656 tamoxifen-treated breast cancer survivors, we evaluated the usage, frequency of service, and prescription of Chinese herbal products containing coumestrol, genistein, or daidzein. The logistic regression method was employed to calculate the odds ratios for utilization of those herbal products. Cox proportional hazard regression was set to calculate the hazard ratios of endometrial cancer associated with such usage. RESULTS: Of the patients surveyed, 36.2% (n=9652) of the tamoxifen-treated breast cancer survivors examined in the study had consumed Chinese herbal products containing coumestrol, genistein, or daidzein during the study period. Exposure to Ge Gen(Puerariae Radix) specifically was the most extensive. For it, the population consumed an average cumulative dose of above 180g. Compared to those who had never used Chinese herbal products, breast cancer survivors who had taken Chinese herbal products containing coumestrol, genistein, or daidzein concurrently with tamoxifen treatment did not have a higher hazard ratio for subsequent development of endometrial cancer. CONCLUSION: Among those tamoxifen-treated female breast cancer survivors in Taiwan, consumption of Chinese herbal products containing coumestrol, genistein, or daidzein is negatively correlated with subsequent endometrial cancer risk.

[Experimental study of canine bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells combined with calcium phosphate cement for repair of mandibular bone defects in Beagle dogs].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) combined with calcium phosphate cement (CPC) scaffold for repair of mandibular defect in Beagle dogs. METHODS: BMSCs were isolated from Beagle dogs and cultured in DMEM plus 10% FBS. The induction effect was determined using alizarin red staining or alkaline phosphate staining at 14-day of culture. BMSCs were added to the CPC scaffold for animal experiments. In vivo, three critical size bone defects were surgically created in each side of the mandible. The bone defects were repaired with BMSCs-CPC (scaffolds with composite seeding cells), CPC (scaffold alone) or no materials (blank group). Two dogs were sacrificed at 4-week and 8-week after operation. Gross observation, X-ray imaging, histologic and histometric analyses were performed to evaluate the level of bone formation. RESULTS: Newly formed bones were detected within all defect sites after operation. The BMSCs-CPC group and CPC group showed increased bone formation compared with the blank group. The BMSCs-CPC group exhibited more bone formation and degradation of the material than the CPC group. The percentage of new bone in the BMSCs-CPC and CPC treated group were significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05), while the percentage of new bone in the BMSCs-CPC sites was higher than that in the CPC sites (P<0.01); the percentage of residual material in the BMSCs-CPC sites was lower than that in the CPC sites (P<0.01) 4 weeks and 8 weeks after operation. CONCLUSIONS: Using the theory of tissue engineering, BMSCs composite CPC compound is an effective method in promoting new bone regeneration, which has a positive influence on the bone space preservation.

Side-chain and linkage-mediated effects of anthraquinone moieties on ambipolar poly(triphenylamine)-based volatile polymeric memory devices.

Two ambipolar and thermally stable poly(triphenylamine)s with pendent anthraquinone acceptors were readily synthesized and prepared for the investigation of side-chain and linkage-mediated effects on the memory behaviour.

Electrically bistable memory devices based on poly(triphenylamine)-PCBM hybrids.

Due to the strong interaction between PCBM and triphenylamine, PCBM could be well distributed into poly-4-methoxytriphenylamine (P-TPA). The resulting hybrid films exhibited DRAM behavior at low PCBM concentrations, while they revealed WORM property at higher, 5 wt% and even up to 10 wt%, PCBM concentrations.

Linkage effect on the memory behavior of sulfonyl-containing aromatic polyether, polyester, polyamide, and polyimide.

Sulfonyl-containing aromatic polymers DSPE, DSPET, DSPA, and DSPI consisting of a triphenylamine moiety were synthesized and the memory behavior was investigated. By choosing the suitable linkage between the electron donor and acceptor, tunable memory properties (from insulator to different retention time SRAM) could be achieved.

[Northern Taiwan nurse practitioners' perceptions of their roles].

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore northern Taiwan nurse practitioners' perceptions of their roles. Eight nurse practitioners participated in this research, which used purposive sampling. Data were collected by in-depth audio-taped interviews, and analysed by qualitative content analysis. For qualitative research, data analysis and data collection go hand in hand. Four themes were evolved from data analysis, which were roles dilemma, roles daybreak, roles function and roles requirement. According to findings, nurse practitioners confront roles dilemma in both intra-professional and inter-professional conflicts and risk of illegal practice. However, nurse practitioners find daybreak from clinical effectiveness, positive role recognition and the progress of related regulations. They conceive their role capability as that of medical subordinate, coach, counselor, and coordinator. They emphasize important requirements for being a nurse practitioner, such as a Bachelor's degree, 5 years medical-surgical practice experience, achieving level 3 on the nursing clinical ladder and possessing an ACLS license. The above research findings might be used to support decision making for NP policy in the future.