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With cancer now the leading cause of death, the importance of palliative care importance is increasingly evident. However, the focus of current policies is on inpatient and home-based care, which neglects the specialized needs of outpatients and results in many not receiving timely palliative care. Integrating palliative care into outpatient clinics using standardized referral criteria and automated systems will allow for timely patient selection and intervention, early symptom management, and psychological support as well as promote patient autonomy in treatment decision-making. Specialized oncology palliative care nurses play a crucial role in related assessment, care planning, and implementation activities. They help patients and families cope with disease progression and end-oflife care through education and support. Early outpatient palliative care benefits many patients and families, realizing a holistic and comprehensive care model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan has been an aging society since 2018. As a result, long-term care, end-of-life autonomy, and hospice care have received increasing attention. The government of Taiwan promotes home-based healthcare through the National Health Insurance System to enable the efficient utilization of medical resources and reduce overall medical costs. Taiwan's community hospice and palliative care network is expected to serve as the main care model supplementing partial hospitalization and institutional care. In this article, we review the history of and policies related to hospice and palliative care in Taiwan using a literature review and examining Pingtung County as a case study. The implementation of home-based palliative care is also outlined and policy revisions are proposed. The results are intended to provide a reference for healthcare authorities and medical institutions to promote community hospice and palliative care policies. The integrated care model can enhance the capacity of community-based palliative care, support patients receiving palliative care and their family members and caregivers, and ensure physical and psychological comfort for patients. This model contributes to the realization of older adults' preference for dying at home, which is especially pronounced in cultures where traditional Chinese ideas are deeply rooted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer-related fatigue is the most common and longest-lasting symptom of discomfort experienced by cancer patients. Its effects on patients include physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive stress, which greatly reduce quality of life. The field of mind-body integrated medicine has improved gradually in recent years, with many evidence-based studies supporting the efficacy of mindfulness as a symptom management strategy for cancer-related fatigue. Based on a review of the literature, this paper introduces the definition of cancer-related fatigue and related assessments and treatments, describes the origin of mindfulness and related concepts, and introduces mindfulness-based empirical treatment strategies for cancer-related fatigue, including mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and their effects. The findings are intended to provide clinicians with a reference for the future care of patients with cancer-related fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building high voltage overhead transmission lines (HVOTL)may incur huge external social cost. This study attempts to estimate such external cost using the Taipower Company's Nantou-Changlin HVOTL as a case study. This HVOTL likely affects the values of farmland. Data were collected from a field survey de- signed from the contingent valuation method (CVM). An econometric model using farmland price as the dependent variable was specified and estimated by two-stage least squares (2SLS) and Heckman two-step model (Heckit). The econometric results show that building this HVOTL would reduce the value of farmland within 600 meters from this line with 23.6 km on both sides. The closer to HVOTL, the lower is the farmland price. The total lost farmland value amounts to 17.1 billion NT dollars. This amount is more than six times the construction cost of 2.7 billion. These research results should be very useful to the Taipower Company and government agencies in assessing the external social cost of the construction of HVOTLs in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was used to characterize human very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles for four healthy donors. One major peak was observed for native, in vitro oxidized and glycated VLDL particles. The effective mobilities and peak areas of the capillary electrophoresis (CE) profiles showed good reproducibility and precision. The mobility of the oxidized VLDL peak was higher than that of the native VLDL. The mobility of the glycated VLDL peak was similar to that of the native VLDL. Phospholipids isolated from VLDL particles were analyzed by our recently developed micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) with a high-salt stacking method. At absorbance 200 nm, the native VLDL phospholipids showed a major peak and a minor peak for each donor. For oxidized VLDL phospholipids, the area of the major peak reduced for three donors, possibly due to phospholipid decomposition. For glycated VLDL phospholipids, the peak mobilities were more positive than native VLDL phospholipids for two donors, possibly due to phospholipid-linked advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Very interestingly, at absorbance 234 nm, the major peak of oxidized VLDL phospholipids was resolved as two peaks for each donor, possibly due to conjugated dienes formed upon oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new bandpass shielding enclosure (BPSE) made by etching the apertures of a periodic hexagon array on its top and bottom surfaces is proposed for modern portable digital devices having wireless communication functions. The BPSE is required to provide high transmittance at the specified communication band and high shielding effectiveness outside this band, and to have little influence on the radiation characteristics of an internal antenna located inside the enclosure. All three required features are difficult to achieve simultaneously. A prototype of the BPSE was built and studied. Both the simulated and measured results obtained show the promising performance of the BPSE and its potential in practical applications. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 15–18, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22978 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]