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Background: We evaluated hyperglycemia-associated mortality in the Taiwanese population by conducting a 10-year retrospective cohort study. Methods: From 2007 to 2017, all participants, regardless of their age or underlying diseases, were identified at a Health Screening Center in Taiwan. Overall, 114,534 participants were included in the analysis. They were classified into three subgroups according to glycemia and smoking status by combining survival for data analysis. Results: The mean follow-up time, age, and body mass index (BMI) were 8.14 ± 2.22 years, 40.95 ± 12.14 years, and 23.24 ± 3.65 kg/m2, respectively. The cumulative death rate increased from 0.9% in the normal fasting blood glucose(FBG) subgroup to approximately 6% in the diabetes FBG subgroup. After adjusting for age, gender, BMI, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, waist circumference(WC), and smoking status, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause, cancer, and heart disease mortality in the diabetes mellitus(DM) subgroup was 1.560, 1.381, and 1.828, respectively.HR was 0.989 in all-cause, 0.940 in cancer, and 1.326 in heart disease in the pre-DM subgroup. Conclusion: Being tested for pre-DM is related to a higher risk of death from heart disease in the Taiwanese population at baseline. Therefore, cardiovascular risk must be actively measured among diabetes patients every visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Team collaboration is an important factor that affects the performance of the operating room (OR). Therefore, the ability of OR nurses to adapt to and manage interpersonal conflict incidents properly is very important. Purpose: The aims of this study were to investigate the interpersonal conflict management capabilities of OR nursing staffs and to find the relationships among the demographics of OR nurses and the following: work-related variables, interpersonal conflict management style, and target of interpersonal conflict. Methods: This study investigated 201 OR nurses who had worked for more than 6 months at the target hospitals, which were located in the three counties of Changhua, Yunlin, and Chiayi. The questionnaire that was used to collect data included three components: a demographic and work-related variables survey, interpersonal conflict management factor analysis scale, and interpersonal conflict parties and frequency scale. Data were analyzed using independent t test, analysis of variance, Scheffe's test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The main findings were as follows: (a) Integration and arbitration were the major interpersonal conflict management strategies adopted by the participants; (b) medical doctor, OR nurses, and anesthetists were the primary targets of conflict for the participants; (c) the factors of educational background, job position, experience in other departments, seniority, attending courses in conflict management, and level of hospital significantly affected the strategies that participants used to manage interpersonal conflict; and (d) license level, experience in other departments, seniority, and inclination toward serving in the OR were each found to relate significantly to the target of interpersonal conflict and the frequency of interpersonal conflict incidents. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The main implications of this study are as follows: (a) The environment for communication in the OR should be made more friendly to encourage junior OR nurses to adopt constructive interpersonal conflict management strategies; (b) prior experience in other departments should be one of the most important factors of consideration when recruiting new nurses for the OR; and (c) hospitals should provide more interpersonal conflict management training courses to support the capability of OR nursing staffs in terms of adopting cooperativeness strategies and coping effectively with all types of interpersonal conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dysmenorrhea is a major problem in the general gynecology clinic. It causes discomfort among healthcare staffs and significant losses in terms of time and finances. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the affected factors of dysmenorrhea and evaluate the self-perceived efficacy of relief methods. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used to collect data. Participants included 586 female students enrolled at a college in southern Taiwan. Data was analyzed using a t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe test. Results: Traditional Chinese medicine pattern identifications related significantly to dysmenorrhea frequency perception. Lifestyle characteristics related significantly to dysmenorrhea level perception. Using shenghua decoction, siwu and pig blood decoction, Angelica drink, ginger, ziziphus jujube, brown sugar tea, and analgesics all related significantly to dysmenorrhea relief efficacy. Conclusions / Implications for Practice: Strategies found to help relieve dysmenorrhea level perception include increasing the duration and regularity of sleep and avoiding the consumption of pungent foods. Seeking and adhering to physician recommendations can also increase dysmenorrhea self-care efficacy. Dysmenorrhea-relief courses should be improved in hospitals and schools to assist women to self-manage dysmenorrhea more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typhoons Aere (2004) and Matsa (2005) caused high nephelometric turbidity in the Shihmen reservoir in northern Taiwan, jeopardizing the operation of the reservoir for several days, and ultimately impacting the living conditions and economy of the downstream residents. The torrential rains caused landslides and debris flows in upland areas, and flowed into riverbeds, likely contributing significantly to the suspended sediment yields in the reservoir. This investigation elucidates how upland landslides affect sediment attributes in the reservoir basin. Study methods including field observations, spatial analysis in GIS and aerial photo interpretation are adopted to trace the sediment sources and contributing factors to the landslide. Torrential rains induced landslides and debris-flows upland, causing river incisions and soil erosion in landslide areas lacking vegetation. These factors, together with the conditions of the engineered structures and geologic vulnerabilities of the area, caused suspended sediment yield in the reservoir. The high nephelometric turbidity could potentially reoccur, with masses of landslide-derived sediment remaining upland and in the riverbed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, Taiwan's bank credits slowed down dramatically while the economy experienced one of the worst recessions in recent history. Whether the slowdown was mainly caused by the demand or the supply effect is unclear. An innovative empirical approach is adopted that uses the short-side rule of bank loans' market transactions to help infer the relative shifts of the demand and supply. For the disaggregate data, a novel model is proposed that accommodates the short-side rule and yet requires only data from the borrowers or the lenders. We find that a large decline in supply is mainly responsible for the slowdown, and we identify the deposit drain and the increase in overdue loans as the main contributing factors. Results also indicate that smaller firms are disproportionately affected by the credit cutback, and that shrinkages in alternative financing sources might have indirectly contributed to the excess demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fostering of creative students has become a crucial issue in engineering education in recent decades. This paper examines staff members' perceptions of creativity in Taiwanese engineering students. Several studies have reported how teachers perceive the nature of creativity. However, the studies have produced varying results because the samples have been drawn from different educational groups, academic disciplines, and geographical areas. The present study investigated the characteristics of creativity as perceived by 175 academic staff members from two Taiwanese universities. The perceptions of creativity by university academic staff members from two Taiwanese from those of primary or secondary school teachers. Rather than emphasizing extrinsic characteristics, such as questioning and responding (as had been done by primary school teachers is previous studies), engineering academic staff members paid more attention to intrinsic characteristics, such as logical thinking. In all, 21 important characteristics of creativity are identified in this study, and these are categorized into five dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Sexual activity in elderly people is a topic of growing interest but the relationships of sexual activity, libido and widowhood to mortality have been barely investigated. Methods A total of 2453 subjects enrolled from a nationwide survey on health status of residents aged 65 years or older in Taiwan between 1989 and 1991 were followed up until 31 December 2003 for ascertaining cause of death. Information on the frequency of sexual activity, libido (sexual desire), widowhood, disease status and relevant risk factors for risk of death at baseline were collected. Results After controlling for age and relevant confounding factors, sexual activity was found to be inversely related to mortality {adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.67 [95% confidence interval (CI):0.56–0.80] for males, aHR = 0.84 (95% CI:0.65–1.09) for females and aHR = 0.72 (95% CI: 0.62–0.84) for both sexes combined}. Men having libido had lower mortality [aHR = 0.81 (95% CI:0.68–0.97)]. Widowhood status was positively correlated with mortality [aHR = 1.66 (95% CI: 1.25–2.19) for males, aHR = 1.33 (95% CI: 1.09 to −1.62) for females and aHR = 1.43 (95% CI: 1.21–1.68) for both sexes combined]. Sexual activity was also inversely related to mortality from stroke [aHR = 0.64 (95% CI: 0.41–1.00)]. Conclusions Sexual activity was associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality independently of other risk factors. This finding was consistent with the elevated risk of death associated with widowhood for both men and women, and by the decreased mortality risk in men having libido. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]