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Biomedical subjects

M F Lou

Publications and source records attributed to M F Lou.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Isolation and identification of L-beta-aspartyl-Llysine and L-gamma-glutamyl-L-ornithine from normal human urine.

L-beta-Aspartyl-L-lysine and L-gamma-glutamyl-L-ornithine were isolated from pooled normal human urine and each peptide was shown to be identical with the authentic peptides. The concentrations of these dipeptides in the urine of individual subjects were determined directly by using a new buffer sequence on a standard ion exchange chromatographic amino acid analyzer with a sensitivity of 10(-10) mol. In urine from normal subjects ranging in age from 12 to 64 years, mean values of 1.47 mumol/g of creatinine of L-gamma-glutamyl-L-ornithine and 8,24 mumol/g of creatinine of L-beta-aspartyl-L-lysine were found. The urine of children under 10 years of age contained, relative to creatinine excretion, more L-beta-aspartyl-L-lysine and L-gamma-glutamyl-L-ornithine than that of older children and adults. All urines contained substantially larger concentrations of L-beta-aspartyl-L-lysine than of L-gamma-glutamyl-L-ornithine. Both peptides were found in urine collected after 21 hr of fasting in lower concentrations than found in urine from nonfasting subjects. The urinary concentrations of both peptides did not appear to be influenced by race or sex.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Taiwanese patients' concerns and coping strategies: transition to cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To explore patients' concerns during the admission transition to cardiac surgery. DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative design. SETTING: Four hospitals in northern Taiwan, Republic of China. PATIENTS: A purposive sample consisting of 40 adult patients (20 men and 20 women) who planned to have cardiac surgery. Age range was 20 to 70 years (mean 50.1 years). OUTCOME MEASURES: The types, levels, components, coping strategies, context, and conceptual framework of patients' concerns. INTERVENTION: Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and then analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Ninety percent of subjects (N = 36) reported two types of concerns: certain (80%) and uncertain (10%). Their certain concerns reflected three levels of concerns: "Caring about" or "Thinking about" (52%); "Worrying about" or "Being afraid of" (43%); and "Experiencing a mortal fear of" (30%), ordered from the weakest to the strongest. The components of patients' concerns were the process of recovery; hospital experiences, including maintaining daily activities, pain at admission, and expectant discomforts and disabilities in the intensive care unit; death; unfinished responsibilities and life goals, significant persons, and places; financial needs; and poor quality of care. Strategies developed to manage their concerns included (1) The use of person-focused effort (both cognitive and psychomotor), (2) Seeking help from others, including family members, friends, other patients, and health professionals, and (3) Turning to metaphysical power. The context for the phenomenon of Taiwanese subjects' concerns concerning cardiac surgery during the admission transition were "Being a person," resuming normality, and empowerment of self. CONCLUSION: The types, levels, components, and coping strategies of patients' concerns during the admission transition to cardiac surgery were discovered and delineated. The background context and conceptual framework for the phenomenon also were developed from the data analysis to describe and depict this phenomenon.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Risk factors and incidence of postoperative delirium in elderly Chinese patients.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence of postoperative delirium among elderly patients and to examine the interrelationship between basic vulnerability and precipitating factors for delirium. DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study. Data were collected in a tertiary medical center in Taipei, Taiwan. From the 1st to the 5th postoperative day, nurses assessed patients using a confusion-screening tool. Patients with signs of delirium were closely examined for changes in behavior and cognitive status and vital signs, and laboratory data were collected to further validate the organic etiology of delirium. Patients were finally diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria in consensus meetings. SUBJECTS: Seven hundred and one elderly patients, that were admitted consecutively for elective orthopedic or urologic surgery, were enrolled in this study. All subjects met the following criteria: (1) 65 years of age or older; (2) able to communicate orally in Chinese, and (3) not unconscious, delirious, deaf, or aphasic upon admission. RESULTS: The overall incidence of delirium among these subjects was 5.1%. Logistic regression analysis identified that older age and preexisting cognitive impairment were vulnerability factors, and that the use of psychoactive drugs was a precipitating factor for delirium. Patients with both basic vulnerability and the precipitating factor had a 56-fold increased probability of delirium (0.28 vs. 0.005 in comparison with those who did not exhibit these factors). CONCLUSION: Few risk factors of postoperative delirium in the older Chinese sample were identified. The only modifiable risk factor appears to be the use of psychoactive drugs.

Aging↗