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Biomedical subjects

M J Wen

Publications and source records attributed to M J Wen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Androgen receptor gene repeats and indices of obesity in older adults.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between GGN and CAG trinucleotide repeat polymorphisms in the androgen receptor (AR) gene and indices of obesity in older Caucasian adults. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Ninety-nine healthy men (age 51-93 y) and 113 healthy postmenopausal women (age 51-92 y). MEASUREMENTS: Genotyping the GGN and CAG repeats of the AR gene, and measuring body weight, height and waist and hip circumferences. Waist was measured at the umbilicus (wstumb), iliac crest (wstili), and mid-way between the iliac crest and lowest rib (wstwst). Waist-to-hip ratios (WHRUMB, WHRILI and WHRWST) and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. RESULTS: Women who were homozygous for a common GGN (17 or 18) and short CAG (</=25) had higher waist and hip circumferences and higher WHRUMB and WHRWST, compared with women without this allele combination. The odds ratios (OR) for the upper 25th percentile of obesity measures were 3.6-5.6-fold higher for wstumb, wstwst, WHRUMB and WHRWST among women with this allele combination. Men who had both a rare GGN (not 17) and short CAG (</=23) had a higher WHRUMB and WHRILI compared with men without this allele combination. The OR related to the upper 10th percentile of obesity measures among men who had this allele combination was 4.7-fold higher for WHRILI. CONCLUSION: AR GGN and CAG allele combinations are strongly associated with central obesity indices in older adults, particularly in women.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Clients' outcomes of home health nursing in Taiwan.

The home health nursing movement is expanding rapidly. Home health nursing agencies (HHNAs) are expected to demonstrate that the care provided does make a difference for the client receiving the services. The purpose of this study was to explore client outcomes from home health nursing. Outcome indicators include: Services utilized (emergency services, re-hospitalization), physiological status (catheter indwelling status, consciousness level, wound severity-number and wound stages) and functional status (reflected by Barthel Index). A prospective research design was used to collect the results. Five hospital-based HHNAs were invited to participate in this research. Clients newly admitted to HHNAs and diagnosed as non-cancer patients were recruited, and the researchers gathered outcome indicators over a six-month period. Data were analyzed using SPSS 8.0 computer software. There were 75 clients in this study. Results showed that most of the clients (64.0%) received service for more than 180 days. The client characteristics were dominated by elderly (66.6% age above 70), female (53.3%) and married (74.7%). The three leading care needs were NG tubing service (84.0%), Foley tubing service (45.3%) and wound care (38.7%). The Kruscal Wallis Test revealed that there was no difference in emergency service frequency and re-hospitalization between clients who received service for more than 180 days and those who received service for less than 180 days. The Wilcoxon Sign rank test showed that within one half-year, catheter indwelling status, functional status, and wound severity were not significantly different, with the exception only of conscious level (p = .001). The results of this study can be viewed as preliminary data to assist in shaping home health nursing services in Taiwan.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

[Analysis and separation of chromium(III) oligomers by ion chromatography].

A method of analyzing chromium(III) oligomers in aqueous solution by means of TSK-Gel ion exchange analytical column and diode array detector was developed. The effects of determination conditions, elution and ionic strength on analysis were investigated carefully and the analytical condition was optimized. The samples were separated for 10 min by using TSK-Gel SP-5PW(75 mm x 7.5 mm i.d., 10 microns) as column, 3 mol/L NaClO4-0.03 mol/L HClO4 as mobile phase, and detected at the wavelength of 200 nm. The method was simple, rapid and repeatable. This method was also used to determine the concentration of each fraction under various conditions of preparing chromium(III) oligomers and rendering the optimized preparation parameters.

Chromatography, Ion Exchange↗
PubMed2000

[Purification of prothrombin in Nitschmann fraction III by membrane radial column ion-exchange liquid chromatography].

A method is described for the purification of human prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) from Nitschmann fraction III by membrane radial column ion-exchange chromatography, which allows large sample volumes to be processed at low operation pressure. The Nitschmann fraction III (15 g) was mixed with 1,000 mL 0.06 mol/L Tris-HCl(pH 7.5). The centrifuged supernatant(10,000 r/min, 15 min, 20 degrees C) was applied onto a DEAE ion-exchange liquid chromatographic column(XK-16 DEAE fast flow Sepharose and DEAE membrane radical column chromatography) with almost the same excellent separation efficiency. The parameters of sample flow rate, elution flow rate and sample capacity were optimized.

Blood Coagulation Factors↗
PubMed1998

Fasting plasma glucose in screening for diabetes in the Taiwanese population.

OBJECTIVE: To reveal the relationship between fasting and 2-h postload plasma glucose and to examine the appropriate fasting glucose cutoff as the primary screening test for diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We recruited 5,303 subjects from preventive services of the National Cheng Kung University Hospital. Exclusion criteria were age <20 years, pregnancy, known diabetes, and a history of recent surgery, trauma, or illness. All subjects received the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. The relationship between fasting and 2-h glucose was examined. Sensitivities, specificities, efficiency, and predictive values were assessed at different cutoffs of fasting glucose for prediction of diabetes. RESULTS: The best fit model for the relationship between fasting and 2-h glucose was fasting glucose = 4.914-0.060 x (2-h glucose) + 0.0144 x (2-h glucose)2. From this model, the fasting glucose was 6.0 mmol/l when 2-h glucose was 11.1 mmol/l. A fasting glucose with 6.25 mmol/l gave the same diabetes prevalence as the World Health Organization 2-h glucose criterion. When 7.8 mmol/l was the fasting glucose cutoff, the sensitivity was 28.5%. Lowering the cutoff from 7.8 to 7.0 mmol/l increased the sensitivity by 11.2% and slightly reduced the specificity and positive predictive value. If the cutoffs were 6.25 and 6.0 mmol/l, the sensitivity increased and the specificity and the positive predictive value decreased accordingly. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that fasting glucose as a screening criterion for diabetes could be revised downward to 7.0 mmol/l, because the slight reduction of positive predictive value was more than balanced by an apparent increase of sensitivity and insignificant change of specificity.

Adult↗