Hypoglycemic cucurbitane-type triterpenoids from fruits of Citrullus colocynthis.

Three previously undescribed cucurbitacins J-L (1-3) and two undescribed cucurbitane-type triterpenoid glycosides (4-5) were isolated, along with seven known analogues, from the 95 % ethanol extract of the fruits of Citrullus colocynthis under the guidance of bioassay and molecular networking. The structures of these previously undescribed compounds were elucidated using HRESIMS, 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance data analysis. Absolute configurations were determined through quantum chemical electronic circular dichroism calculations and acid hydrolysis analysis.

Experience of Foreign Domestic Caregivers in Oral Hygiene Care for Older Adults With Dementia in Taiwan: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the experiences of Indonesian domestic paid caregivers in providing oral hygiene care for older adults with dementia.

Background: As dementia progresses, individuals increasingly rely on their caregivers for help with daily oral care.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted.

The Value of a Nurse-Engineer Team in Evaluating Technology for Patient Care.

Nursing engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary applied science that combines clinical nursing expertise with engineering innovations to enhance the quality and efficiency of health care. This field improves the design, assessment, and implementation of health care technologies by fostering collaboration between nurses and engineers. This partnership ensures that technologies align with clinical requirements and improve patient outcomes.

Scapular metastasis from acinic cell carcinoma of parotid gland: A case report.

Background: Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) is a malignant epithelial neoplasm that commonly occurs in the parotid gland. It is known to have a high recurrence rate and the potential to metastasize to the lung or cervical lymph nodes. However, few cases of ACC with bone metastasis have been reported in the medical literature.

Shaker/Kv1 potassium channel SHK-1 protects against pathogen infection and oxidative stress in C. elegans.

The Shaker/Kv1 subfamily of voltage-gated potassium (K+) channels is essential for modulating membrane excitability. Their loss results in prolonged depolarization and excessive calcium influx. These channels have also been implicated in a variety of other cellular processes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.

Dementia Training for Nurses in Acute Care Settings: Impacts and Barriers.

Background: The provision of consistent, high-quality dementia care training for healthcare professionals in acute care hospital settings has been largely overlooked until recent years.

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the effect of current healthcare professional dementia care training courses on related knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy in hospital nurses and to understand their training-related experiences, willingness, and perceived barriers.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 201 nurses were recruited from a teaching medical center in Taiwan.

Association of increased participation in social activity in later life with risk of all-cause mortality and heart diseases in older people: results from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS).

Background: Previous studies have shown social activity is associated with reduced risk of health outcomes. However, among older people (≥65 years) who were socially inactive at baseline, limited study explored whether increased participation in social activity in later life was associated with reduced risk of health outcomes; therefore, using the data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, the study was performed.

Methods: The study outcomes were 10-year all-cause mortality (sample number = 9,984) and 10-year heart diseases (sample number = 7,496).

Data-Fusion-Based Quality Enhancement for HR Measurements Collected by Wearable Sensors.

The advancements of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have enabled the implementation of smart and wearable sensors, which can be employed to provide older adults with affordable and accessible continuous biophysiological status monitoring. The quality of such monitoring data, however, is unsatisfactory due to excessive noise induced by various disturbances, such as motion artifacts. Existing methods take advantage of summary statistics, such as mean or median values, for denoising, without taking into account the biophysiological patterns embedded in data.

Variations in the sleep-related breathing disorder index on polysomnography between men with HIV and controls: a matched case-control study.

Background: Both sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs) and HIV infection can interfere with normal sleep architecture, and also cause physical and psychological distress. We aimed to understand the differences in the obstructive patterns, sleep architecture, physical and psychological distress when compared between people living with HIV (PLWH) and matched the severity of SRBDs controls.

Methods: A comparative study using matched case-control design was conducted.

Characteristics of flash droughts and their association with compound meteorological extremes in China: Observations and model simulations.

Flash droughts have gained considerable public attention due to the imminent threats they pose to food security, ecological safety, and human health. Currently, there has been little research exploring the projected changes in flash droughts and their association with compound meteorological extremes (CMEs). In this study, we applied the pentad-mean water deficit index to investigate the characteristics of flash droughts and their association with CMEs based on observational data and downscaled model simulations.

Dissecting the genetic landscape of GPCR signaling through phenotypic profiling in C. elegans.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate responses to various extracellular and intracellular cues. However, the large number of GPCR genes and their substantial functional redundancy make it challenging to systematically dissect GPCR functions in vivo. Here, we employ a CRISPR/Cas9-based approach, disrupting 1654 GPCR-encoding genes in 284 strains and mutating 152 neuropeptide-encoding genes in 38 strains in C.

Iterative editing of multiple genes using CRISPR/Cas9 in .

Certain sets of genes are derived from gene duplication and share substantial sequence similarity in , presenting a significant challenge in determining the specific roles of each gene and their collective impact on cellular processes. Here, we show that a collection of genes can be disrupted in a single animal via multiple rounds of CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing. We found that up to three genes can be simultaneously disrupted in a single editing event with high efficiency.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals upregulated host metabolisms and downregulated immune responses or cell death induced by acute African swine fever virus infection.

The African swine fever virus is a virulent and communicable viral disease that can be transmitted by infected swine, contaminated pork products, or soft tick vectors. Nonstructural proteins encoded by ASFV regulate viral replication, transcription, and evasion. However, the mechanisms underlying the host response to ASFV infection remain incompletely understood.

Brain photobiomodulation therapy on neurological and psychological diseases.

Photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy is an innovative treatment for neurological and psychological conditions. Complex IV of the mitochondrial respiratory chain can be stimulated by red light, which increases ATP synthesis. In addition, the ion channels' light absorption causes the release of Ca which activates transcription factors and changes gene expression.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation: insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuroinflammation.

Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide, with most survivors reporting dysfunctions of motor, sensation, deglutition, cognition, emotion, and speech, Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), one of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, is able to modulate neural excitability of brain regions and has been utilized in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Moreover, a large number of studies have shown that the rTMS presents positive effects on function recovery of stroke patients. In this review, we would like to summarized the clinical benefits of rTMS for stroke rehabilitation, including improvements of motor impairment, dysphagia, depression, cognitive function, and central post-stroke pain.

Hypoxia induces food leaving in .

Hypoxia alters eating behavior in different animals. In , hypoxia induces a strong food leaving response. We found that this behavior was independent of the known O response mechanisms including acute O sensation and HIF-1 signaling of chronic hypoxia response.

Substantial increase in abrupt shifts between drought and flood events in China based on observations and model simulations.

Drought-flood abrupt alternation (DFAA) refers to the rapid transformation between droughts and floods, posing serious threats to ecological security, food production, and human safety. Previous studies have insufficiently investigated DFAA events at large regional scales using high-resolution observations and model simulations. In this study, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index was used to construct the DFAA magnitude index, which considers the asymmetric effects of drought and flood alternations.

Thermally constructed stable Zn-doped NiCoO alloy structures on stainless steel mesh for efficient hydrogen production via overall hydrazine splitting in alkaline electrolyte.

Hydrogen has a high energy density of approximately 120 to 140 MJ kg, which is very high compared to other natural energy sources. However, hydrogen generation through electrocatalytic water splitting is a high electricity consumption process due to the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). As a result, hydrogen generation through hydrazine-assisted water electrolysis has recently been intensively investigated.

Correlation between frailty and cardiac structure and function in echocardiography in elderly patients with normal ejection fraction.

Objective: This study aims to accurately evaluate the cardiac structure and function of the frail population in elderly patients with normal ejection fraction (EF) using the 3D volume quantification and speckle tracking of echocardiography, to explore the correlation between frailty and cardiac structure and function.

Methods: A total of 350 elderly aged 65 and above in-patients, excluding those with congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and severe valvular heart disease, were included in the study. Patients were divided into non-frail, pre-frail, and frail group.

Cucurbitane-type triterpenoids from the fruits of Citrullus colocynthis.

A phytochemical investigation of the fruits of Citrullus colocynthis resulted in the isolation of 21 structurally diverse cucurbitane triterpenoids, including 9 previously undescribed ones, colocynins A-I (1-9). Their absolute configurations were elucidated by means of quantum chemical electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations, CD exciton chirality method, and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Colocynins A-C (1-3) represent the first examples of nonanorcucurbitane-type triterpenoids.

Relationships Among Trajectories of Sleep Disturbance, Depression, and Antiretroviral Therapy in Persons Newly Diagnosed with HIV: A One-and-a-Half-Year Observational Longitudinal Study.

Purpose: Sleep disturbance is one of the most prevalent symptoms among persons living with HIV (PLWH). However, the trajectory of sleep patterns in persons newly diagnosed with HIV remains underrecognized. The current study aimed to estimate the trajectory of sleep quality and its associated factors among newly diagnosed PLWH.

Dynamic changes in quality of life, psychological status, and body image in women who underwent a mastectomy as compared with breast reconstruction: an 8-year follow up.

Background: Surgical decisions and methods of surgery highly influence long term QoL for breast cancer (BC) survivors. This study is aimed towards an exploration of the dynamic changes in quality of life (QoL), anxiety/depression status, and body image (BI) among women with BC who received a mastectomy compared with those receiving breast reconstruction (BR) within an 8-year follow-up period.

Methods: Women with major BC surgeries were invited to complete the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF), the European quality of life five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D), and a body image scale within 8 years of surgery.

ROS and cGMP signaling modulate persistent escape from hypoxia in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The ability to detect and respond to acute oxygen (O2) shortages is indispensable to aerobic life. The molecular mechanisms and circuits underlying this capacity are poorly understood. Here, we characterize the behavioral responses of feeding Caenorhabditis elegans to approximately 1% O2.