Aims To compare the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHO-QOL-BREF) instrument and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and to examine the association between pulmonary function and domains and items of these questionnaires in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods The WHOQOL-BREF and the SGRQ were administered to 211 patients. The reliability and validity of, and correlations among, the domain scores were examined. Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify which items were independently associated with subjects' lung functions. Results Both questionnaires showed good internal consistency (a [ 0.8), except the SGRQ symptoms domain (a = 0.66), minimal ceiling and floor effects, and good item convergent and item discriminant validity. There were moderate correlations between physical domain of the WHOQOL-BREF and activity, impacts and total domains of the SGRQ, and between psychological domain of the WHOQOL-BREF and impacts and total domains of the SGRQ. Eighteen items were significantly associated with lung function, particularly those items relating to mobility/ walking and activities of daily living (ADL). Conclusion Both the WHOQOL-BREF and the SGRQ showed comparable reliability and validity. Items related to mobility/walking and ADL may be useful in clinical screening for lung function impairment.Keywords Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Á Health-related quality of life Á SGRQ Á WHOQOL-BREF Abbreviations COPDChronic obstructive pulmonary disease FEV 1 Forced expiratory volume in 1 s FVC

This study adopts case studies using open-ended questionnaires, pupils' notes, teachers' journals, science fair projects, photos, videos, and other materials in order to explore the use of argumentation in promoting students' elaboration of their science projects. The participants in this study are seven sixth-grade pupils from four different classes, comprising five girls and two boys. The results reveal that the use of argumentation in the elaboration process not only helps the students to examine the validity of science projects but also guides them to reflect on the consistency of the projects' objective, experimental design, results, and conclusion. It was also found that rebuttals are not evident in scientific projects, and though the data claim that warrants are key elements of the elaboration process in a science fair, their meanings are not easily understood by primary-school students. Teachers are required to continuously explain the importance of argumentation. In addition, formulating conclusions based on empirical data is difficult for students. On the other hand, collecting and refining data as evidence to support or disprove a given temporary conclusion are less complicated tasks for the students.

Down-regulation of microglial activation represents a practical strategy for combating diverse brain disorders such as stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study, we showed evidence that isopropyl 3-(3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-hydroxypropanoate (IDHP), a new bioactive metabolite of Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge), exerted an anti-inflammatory effect in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- induced microglia. Our data showed that IDHP significantly reduced the production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in LPS-induced BV-2 cells and rat primary microglia in a dose-dependent manner. IDHP also suppressed mRNA expression of LPSinduced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), TNF-α and IL-1β. Moreover, IDHP significantly suppressed the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) translocation and DNA binding activity induced by LPS treatment in BV-2 cells. These findings indicated that IDHP might be of value in the treatment of various microglia-mediated neuroinflammatory diseases.

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Young individuals typically have a dry-heat (燥熱 zào rè) constitution and feel overly stimulated. This study observes specialties on the right-bar (右關 yòu guān) section of the radial-arterial pulse of healthy young subjects, and investigates pulse variations induced by different attribute foods. Chinese medical doctors grouped thirty subjects into heat and non-heat constitutions. Each subject took water, aged ginger tea, and coconut water, well recognized as neutral, hot, and cold drinks, on different visits. The current study observed physiological signals induced by the samples using novel noninvasive sphygmography and a blood pressure monitor. As the baseline bigger percussion wave, dicrotic wave, and area in the sphygmogram of the non-heat constitution subjects, this work suggests that blood vessels of these subjects may be more relaxed than that of the heat constitution ones. Stroke volume increased and pulse pressure decreased in the non-heat constitution subjects after taking aged ginger tea, which may elevate arterial compliance corresponding to maintaining an estimated radial-arterial diameter in our study. However, the percussion wave widened and the valley increased in the heat constitution subjects after taking aged ginger tea. This corresponds to the markedly reduced radial-arterial diameter, indicating tighter blood vessels than the baseline status. Accordingly, this study confirms that selecting foods with attributes opposite to personal constitutions is important for reestablishing a healthy cold-heat balance within the human body. Moreover, novel noninvasive sphygmography may be a useful instrument to classify scientifically the heat personal constitution and the responses to different attribute foods.