Objective As a developable ability, empathy is significantly associated with patient-centered care. The authors intended to evaluate the effect of Virtual Dementia Tour (VDT) upon nursing students’ empathy level and propose practical rationales for optimizing future dementia care. Methods A total of 45 second-year undergraduate nursing students were organized to watch a theme movie entitled Still Alice and participate in an 8-min VDT. Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professional Students (JSE-HPS) was employed for evaluating the empathy level of nursing students. After VDT, all nursing students participated in a structured interview. Descriptive statistics and paired t -tests were performed using SPSS 24.0. Results Their empathy levels demonstrated significant overall improvements (106.69 ± 9.49 vs 115.51 ± 10.16, P < 0.01). During the course of VDT, nursing students experienced varying levels of anxiety and frustration. All of them were satisfied with the program since they had gained a deeper understanding of demented patients and the program could change their attitudes toward demented elders. Conclusion Watching a specially selected movie and participating in VDT may be an effective method for enhancing empathy and caring during nursing student education.

Rationale: The idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (iDILI) is a major cause of acute liver injury and a key challenge in late-stage drug development. Individual heterogeneity is considered to be an essential factor of iDILI. However, few in vitro model can predict heterogeneity in iDILI. We have previously shown that mouse and human hepatocytes can be converted to expandable liver progenitor-like cells in vitro (HepLPCs). However, the limited proliferation potential of human HepLPCs confines its industrial application. Here, we reported the generation of a novel hepatocyte model not only to provide unlimited cell sources for human hepatocytes but also to establish a tool for studying iDILI in vitro.Methods: Human primary hepatocytes were isolated by modified two-step perfusion technique. The chemical reprogramming culture condition together with gene-transfer were then used to generate the immortalized HepLPC cell lines (iHepLPCs). Growth curve, doubling time, and karyotype were analyzed to evaluate the proliferation characteristics of iHepLPCs. Modified Hepatocyte Maturation Medium and 3D spheroid culture were applied to re-differentiate iHepLPCs.Results: iHepLPCs exhibited efficient expansion for at least 40 population doublings, with a stable proliferative ability. They could easily differentiate back into metabolically functional hepatocytes in vitro within 10 days. Furthermore, under three-dimensional culture conditions, the formed hepatic spheroids showed multiple liver functions and toxicity profiles close to those of primary human hepatocytes. Importantly, we established a hepatocyte bank by generating a specific number of such cell lines. Screening for population heterogeneity allowed us to analyze the in vitro heterogeneous responses to hepatotoxicity induced by molecular targeted drugs.Conclusions: In light of the proliferative capacity and the heterogeneity they represented, these iHepLPCs cell lines may offer assistance in studying xenobiotic metabolism as well as liver diseases in vitro.

Pre-cesarean PBP in the internal iliac artery was a safe and effective treatment that could reduce the incidence of both postpartum hemorrhage and hysterectomy among women with pernicious placenta previa.

AimsThis study aimed to assess the impact of different antidiabetic agents on individuals with diabetes and COVID-19.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases from inception to October 31, 2021 and included seven antidiabetic agents. The data were pooled via traditional pairwise meta-analysis and Bayesian network meta-analysis.ResultsThe pairwise meta-analysis included 35 studies. Metformin (odds ratio (OR), 0.74; P=0.001), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) (OR, 0.88; P=0.04), sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) (OR, 0.82; P=0.001), and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1RA) (OR, 0.91; P=0.02) treatment were associated with lower COVID-19 mortality in individuals with diabetes compared to respective non-users. However, insulin treatment resulted in higher mortality (OR, 1.8; P=0.001). Mortality did not significantly differ in sulfonylurea (OR, 0.97; P=0.56) and thiazolidinediones (TZDs) (OR, 1.00; P=0.96) users. Furthermore, due to limited data, we analyzed five antidiabetic agents (metformin, DPP4i, sulfonylurea, insulin, and SGLT2i) and found no association between them and severe disease risk (all P&gt;0.05). The Bayesian network meta-analysis included 18 studies. GLP1RA and SGLT2i had the highest first and second rank probability (67.3% and 62.5%, respectively). Insulin showed the maximum probability of ranking seventh (97.0%). Metformin had the third and fourth highest rank probability of 44.8% and 38.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, DPP4i had the fifth-highest rank probability of 42.4%, followed by sulfonylurea at 45.1%.ConclusionMetformin, DPP4i, SGLT2i, and GLP1RA treatments were highly possible to reduced COVID-19 mortality risk in individuals with diabetes, while insulin might be related to increased mortality risk. Sulfonylurea and TZDs treatments were not associated with mortality. None of the antidiabetic agents studied were associated with the risk of severe disease. Additionally, GLP1RA probably had the most significant protective effect against death, followed by SGLT2i and metformin.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO (CRD42021288200)