9%). Residents who received hospice care were in more severe and complex clinical conditions than those who did not receive hospice care. CONCLUSION Only a small proportion of residents in LTCFs received hospice care. Further investigation of standardized assessment of terminal status is needed as accuracy of end-stage diagnosis continues to be challenging and criteria for hospice eligibility are narrow. Special attention should be paid to improve access to hospice care among residents with dementia or other progressive chronic diseases with severe and complex clinical needs.Although fluctuations in energy metabolism are known to influence intake as well as nutrient selection, there are no definitive reports on how food preferences change with changes in habitat temperature. We investigated the effects of habitat temperature on appetite and food preference and elucidated the underlying mechanism by conducting a feeding experiment and a leptin administration test on mice reared at low temperatures. Our results showed that the increased food intake and HFD preference observed in the 10°C group were induced by decrease in plasma leptin concentration. Then, a leptin administration experiment was conducted to clarify the relationship between leptin and food preference with low-temperature acclimation. The control group reared in 10°C significantly preferred the HFD, but the leptin-administered group did not. These results show that the peripheral system appetite-regulating hormone leptin not only acts to suppress appetite but also might inhibit preference for lipids in low-temperature acclimation.BACKGROUND Hyperthyroidism is associated with various cardiovascular risk factors. However, the relationship between hyperthyroidism and myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke has not been fully elucidated; only a few studies have investigated the association of hyperthyroidism with survival after MI or stroke. METHODS We included 59,021 hyperthyroid patients and 1,180,420 age- and sex-matched control cohort from the Korean National Health Insurance database. Blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), glucose and cholesterol level, and smoking history were obtained during National Health screening examination. We compared the incidence of MI, stroke, and survival after cardiovascular events between subjects with hyperthyroidism and control cohort. RESULTS Subjects with hyperthyroidism had higher blood pressure, fasting glucose, and smoking rate, but lower cholesterol level and obesity rate compared with the control cohort. After adjusting these differences and atrial fibrillation, hyperthyroidism was associated wit, in females and in non-obese group. Hyperthyroidism did not significantly affect the mortality of cardiovascular events.Objective This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of group psychotherapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders.Method A comprehensive literature search using PubMed, PsychInfo, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and manual searches was conducted to locate randomized controlled trials. We found 57 eligible studies (k = 76 comparisons) including 3656 participants receiving group psychotherapy or an alternative treatment for generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.Results Effect size estimates show that group psychotherapy reduces specific symptoms of anxiety disorders more effectively than no-treatment control groups (g = 0.92, [0.81; 1.03], k = 43) and treatments providing common unspecific treatment factors (g = 0.29 [0.10; 0.48], k = 12). No significant differences were found compared to individual psychotherapy (g = 0.24 [-0.09; 0.57], k = 7) or pharmacotherapy (g = -0.05 [-0.33; 0.23], k = 6). The effects were unrelated to factors of the group treatment. Within head-to-head studies, a significant moderating effect emerged for researcher allegiance.Conclusions Our results support the efficacy of group psychotherapy for anxiety disorders. They indicate that mixed-diagnoses groups are equally effective as diagnosis-specific groups, although further evidence is required. Future primary studies should address differential effectiveness, include a wider range of therapeutic approaches as well as active comparison groups.The active vitamin D compound, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D) is produced in skin cells following exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun. However, there are many harmful effects of UV which include DNA damage caused by direct absorption of UV, as well as that caused indirectly via UV-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS). Interestingly, 1,25D and analogs have been shown to reduce both direct and indirect UV-induced DNA damage in skin cells. This was accompanied by reductions in ROS and in nitric oxide products with 1,25D following UV. Moreover, following acute UV exposure, 1,25D has been demonstrated to increase p53 levels in skin, which would presumably allow for repair of cells with damaged DNA, or apoptosis of cells with irreparably damaged DNA. Previous studies have also shown that p53 reduces intracellular ROS. Furthermore, 1,25D has been shown to induce metallothioneins, which are potent free radical scavengers. In addition to these protective effects, 1,25D has been demonstrated to inhibit stress-activated c-Jun N-terminal kinases following UV exposure, and to increase levels of the stress-induced protein heme oxygenase-1 in a model of oxidative stress. Herein, we discuss the protective effects of 1,25D and analogs in the context of UV, oxidative stress and skin cancer.Objective The goal of this study was to verify the details of neonatal respiratory inhibition (NRI) in healthy infants.Methods We screened for NRI in 521 infants who weighed at least 2000 g and who were born at a gestational age of at least 36 weeks. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/tram-34.html Respiratory inhibition was defined as severe hypoxemia, accompanied by clinical manifestations of central cyanosis and a decrease in SpO2 to less than 70%. NRI consists of feeding hypoxemia, respiratory inhibition after crying (RIAC), and respiratory inhibition after gastroesophageal reflux (RIGER). The subjects were monitored continuously via pulse oximetry from birth until discharge. To identify the details of NRI, we analyzed detailed notes taken by both parents and medical staff during monitoring using specific software designed to interpret pulse oximetry measurements. The mothers of infants with feeding hypoxemia received nursing guidance.Results NRI was observed in 268 (51.4%) infants (feeding hypoxemia in 227 (43.6%); RIAC in 121 (23.2%); and RIGER in 12 (2.