University of Kang Ning

About: University of Kang Ning is a education organization based out in Tainan City, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Public health & Health care. The organization has 93 authors who have published 130 publications receiving 1324 citations.

Current status of accurate prognostic awareness in advanced/terminally ill cancer patients: Systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Abstract: Background:No systematic meta-analysis is available on the prevalence of cancer patients’ accurate prognostic awareness and differences in accurate prognostic awareness by publication year, region,...

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Disability for Older Adults: A Population-Based Study

Abstract: Background. Although depressive symptoms in older adults are common, their relationship with disability and the influence of disability on the development of depressive symptoms over time is not well understood. This longitudinal study investigates the change trajectories of both depressive symptoms and disability, as well as their associations over time. Methods. Participants included 442 community-dwelling older adults living in Taiwan, aged 65 years or older, who completed six waves of survey interviews. Depression was scored with the Short Psychiatric Evaluation Schedule and disability with the instrumental and physical activities of daily living measure during each consecutive data collection wave. The autoregressive latent trajectory model and parallel latent growth curve modeling were adopted for analysis of the data. Results. The autoregressive latent trajectory model highlights that previous depressive symptoms (and disability) signifi cantly contributed to the advancement of more severe depressive symptoms (and disability). This model also indicates that disability significantly contributed to the onset of depressive symptoms and vice versa. The parallel latent growth curve model ing highlights that the disability intercept had significant effects on the depressive symptoms intercept, as did the depressive symptoms on disability. Furthermore, the disability slope had significant effects on the slope of the depressive symptoms. Conclusions. These findings demonstrate that disability is a stronger predictor of depressive symptoms than depressive symptoms are of disability. In addition, the prior existence of a health condition will lead to further deterioration of health conditions and that they often coexist.

Numerical analysis of a rapid magnetic microfluidic mixer.

Abstract: This paper presents a detailed numerical investigation of the novel active microfluidic mixer proposed by Wen et al. (Electrophoresis 2009, 30, 4179-4186). This mixer uses an electromagnet driven by DC or AC power to induce transient interactive flows between a water-based ferrofluid and DI water. Experimental results clearly demonstrate the mixing mechanism. In the presence of the electromagnet's magnetic field, the magnetic nanoparticles create a body force vector that acts on the mixed fluid. Numerical simulations show that this magnetic body force causes the ferrofluid to expand significantly and uniformly toward miscible water. The magnetic force also produces many extremely fine finger structures along the direction of local magnetic field lines at the interface in both upstream and downstream regions of the microchannel when the external steady magnetic strength (DC power actuation) exceeds 30 Oe (critical magnetic Peclet number Pe(m),cr = 2870). This study is the first to analyze these pronounced finger patterns numerically, and the results are in good agreement with the experimental visualization of Wen et al. (Electrophoresis 2009, 30, 4179-4186). The large interfacial area that accompanies these fine finger structures and the dominant diffusion effects occurring around the circumferential regions of fingers significantly enhance the mixing performance. The mixing ratio can be as high as 95% within 2.0 s. at a distance of 3.0 mm from the mixing channel inlet when the applied peak magnetic field supplied by the DC power source exceeds 60 Oe. This study also presents a sample implementation of AC power actuation in a numerical simulation, an experimental benchmark, and a simulation of DC power actuation with the same peak magnetic strength. The simulated flow structures of the AC power actuation agree well with the experimental visualization, and are similar to those produced by DC power. The AC and DC power actuated flow fields exhibited no significant differences. This numerical study suggests approaches to maximize the performance of the proposed rapid magnetic microfluidic mixer, and confirms its exciting potential for use in lab-on-a-chip systems.

A Blended Mobile Learning Environment for Museum Learning

Abstract: The use of mobile devices for informal learning has gained attention over recent years. Museum learning is also regarded as an important research topic in the field of informal learning. This study explored a blended mobile museum learning environment (BMMLE). Moreover, this study applied three blended museum learning modes: (a) the traditional museum visit accompanied by a learning website, (b) paper-based learning sheets used during museum visits accompanied by a learning website, and (c) an interactive mobile learning system used during museum visits accompanied by a learning website (i.e., BMMLE). Furthermore, the study explored the learning process through the use of each mode by museum visitors and empirically examined the differences between the learning performances and behavioral patterns of visitors. Study participants included 58 college students. A performance analysis, a behavior analysis of learners' participation on the website and a sequential analysis of the videotaped behaviors of visiting participants were conducted. The findings showed that the BMMLE proposed in this study may enable visitors to focus on the interactions between on-site exhibits and mobile learning systems and that the BMMLE may also extend the interaction period between on-site learning and the learning website, thus facilitating the implementation of the museum's learning activities.