Chitosan, produced from chitin, is one of the polymers with promising applications in various fields. However, despite diverse research studies conducted on its biocompatibility, its uses are still limited. The main reason is the degree of deacetylation (DOD), which represents the proportion of deacetylated units in the polymer and is directly correlated with its biocompatibility property. In this article, the in vivo biocompatibility of three chitosan-hydroxyapatite composite films composed of chitosan with different DOD values was investigated by traditional biological protocols and novel optical spectroscopic analyses. The DOD of the chitosan obtained from three different manufacturers was estimated and calculated by Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The chitosan with the higher DOD induced a higher incidence of inflammation in skin cells. The amino group density, biodegradability, and crystallinity of chitosan are the three possible factors that need to be considered when determining the biocompatibility of the films for in vivo application, as they led to complicated biological results, resulting in either better or worse inflammation even when using chitosan products with the same DOD. This basic study on the relationship between the DOD and inflammation is valuable for the development of further chitosan-based researches. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 1637-1645, 2017.
Health literacy is closely associated with poor health outcomes and mortality. However, only a handful of studies have examined the association between health literacy and frailty status. The current study used data from a nationwide sample of Korean adults aged 70–84 collected from 10 cities, each of which represents a different region of South Korea (n = 1521). We used the propensity score matching (PSM) method to minimize the potential selection bias and confounding factors that are present in observational studies. After PSM, demographic and health-related characteristics between the limited health literacy (n = 486) and the nonlimited health literacy (n = 486) groups were not significantly different. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted for the PSM-matched sample to examine the association between health literacy and frailty outcomes, where the robust group was set as a reference. Limited health literacy significantly increased the risk of pre-frailty (RRR = 1.45, p = 0.02) and frailty (RRR = 2.03, p = 0.01) after adjusting for demographic and health-related factors. Our findings underscore the need to foster health literacy programs and provide preliminary evidence to inform tailored intervention programs so that we might attenuate the risk of frailty in the older population.
Background There are considerable gaps between the need for assistive technologies and the actual adoption of these technologies among older adults, although older adults are among the groups that most need assistive technologies. Consequently, research is needed in this area because older adults’ technology acceptance and influencing factors may differ depending on their level of frailty. Objective The objective of this study was to compare frail, prefrail, and robust groups of South Korean adults regarding their behavioral intention to use daily living assistive technologies and the affecting factors—namely, technological context factors, health contexts and abilities, and attitudinal factors—based on a comprehensive senior technology acceptance model. Methods A nationwide sample of 500 older South Korean adults (aged 55-92 years) was analyzed, and multivariate linear regression analyses of the robust, prefrail, and frail groups were performed. The independent and dependent variables consisted of 3 factors based on previous studies. First, technological context factors consisted of gerontechnology self-efficacy, gerontechnology anxiety, and facilitating conditions. Second, health contexts and abilities consisted of self-reported health conditions, cognitive ability, social relationships, psychological function, and physical function. Third and last, attitudinal factors consisted of behavioral intention to use assistive technologies, attitude toward use, perceived usefulness (PU), and perceived ease of use (PEOU). Results The results of the analyses showed that technological context factors such as gerontechnology self-efficacy, health contexts and abilities such as self-reported health conditions and psychological function, and attitudinal factors such as attitude toward use, PU, and PEOU had significant effects on behavioral intention to use daily living assistive technologies. In particular, gerontechnology self-efficacy had a significant relationship with behavioral intention to use these technologies in the robust (r=0.120; P=.03) and prefrail (r=0.331; P<.001) groups. Psychological function (life satisfaction) had a significant relationship with behavioral intention to use these technologies in the robust group (r=–0.040; P=.02). Self-reported health conditions had a significant relationship with behavioral intention to use these technologies in the prefrail group (r=–0.169; P=.01). Although each group had a different significant relationship with the variables, attitudinal factors such as attitude toward use affected all groups (robust group: r=0.190; P=.03; prefrail group: r=0.235; P=.006; and frail group: r=0.526; P=.002). In addition, PU and PEOU in the attitudinal factors had a significant relationship with behavioral intention to use assistive technologies in the robust (PU: r=0.160; P=.01; and PEOU: r=0.350; P<.001) and prefrail (PU: r=0.265; P<.001; and PEOU: r=0.120; P=.04) groups. Conclusions This study found that the comprehensive senior technology acceptance model of daily living assistive technologies had different associations according to the frailty group. These findings provided insights into the consideration of interventions with daily living assistive technologies for older adults with varying levels of frailty.
Based on the findings from this study, both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
This study evaluates whether blood glucose response differs upon consuming rice cooked in a carbohydrate (carb)-reducing rice cooker. Rice cooked this way exhibited 19% reduced total carbohydrate (34.0 ± 0.3 vs. 27.6 ± 0.9 g/100 g rice) and 20% reduced total calorie (149.0 ± 1.0 vs. 120.8 ± 3.7 kcal/100 g rice) contents. We measured the blood glucose response (at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min) in 13 healthy participants after consuming 6 different rice types: regular white rice (regular WR, 50 g of available carbohydrate (AC)), low-carb WR with equivalent weight as regular WR (low-carb WR (EW)), low-carb WR with equivalent carb as regular WR (low-carb WR (EC), regular mixed-grain rice (regular MR), low-carb MR (EW) as regular MR, and low-carb MR (EC) as regular MR. All rice samples were prepared in an electric carb-reducing rice cooker. Postprandial blood glucose, sensory, and appetite were assessed after each test meal. The incremental area under the curve of 15 and 30 min after rice consumption was significantly lower in low-carb WR (EW) than that in regular WR. These results suggest possible health benefits of low-carb WR in reducing early postprandial spikes in blood glucose level without significant differences in satiety and satisfaction.
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