Emotional distress of FCs was the most important factor determining the overall and negative aspects of FCs' QOL, whereas various environmental factors were associated with positive coping. Appropriate support programs directed at these factors are needed to maintain and improve FCs' QOL.

BaTiO 3 ( BTO )/ SrTiO 3 ( STO ) artificial superlattices have been made on MgO (100) substrates. The periodicity of the BTO/STO layers in the superlattice was varied from one-unit cell to 125-unit cell thickness. The dielectric constant and its nonlinearity (or voltage tunability) showed similar behavior as the periodicity was varied. The voltage tunability of the superlattice increased with decreasing stacking periodicity of the BTO/STO within the critical thickness. Similarly, the lattice distortion, i.e., the ratio of the lattice parameter along surface normal to parallel, of the BTO and STO layers increased with decreasing the periodicity. Remarkable enhancement of the voltage tunability has been achieved. The superlattice exhibited large voltage tunability (94%, the highest value to date) at the periodicity of BTO2-unit cell/STO2-unit cell at which the maximum lattice distortion of each layer was obtained. This suggests that the nonlinear dielectric property of the superlattice is closely related with the lattice distortion of the individual layers.

Lack of family support is associated with and may be a cause of diminished resilience. And more concern should be paid to FCs to improve FCs' health and emotional status. Education programs might be effective for improving caregivers' resilience. Further research with supportive interventions is indicated.

We developed the new OPS, without clinician's survival estimates but including a new prognostic factor (LDH). This new instrument demonstrated accurate prediction of the 3-week survival. The OPS had acceptable accuracy in this study population (training set). Further validation is required on an independent population (testing set).

Enhancement of dielectric properties has been demonstrated in BaTiO3 (BTO)/SrTiO3 (STO) strained artificial lattice. Large variation of lattice distortion in the consisting BTO and STO layers was achieved by varying a stacking sequence of BTO and STO layers. From this strain manipulation, it is found that BTO and STO lattices have a dielectric constant sensitively influenced by the lattice distortion and, more importantly, maximum dielectric constant at a certain degree of lattice distortion. An appropriate degree of lattice distortions of the consisting layers is needed to obtain the large dielectric constant and its nonlinearity of the artificial lattice. The artificial lattice exhibited the large dielectric constant (1230) and extremely large nonlinearity (94%) at the periodicity of BTO2 unit cell/STO2 unit cell. These results suggest that the strain is a macroscopically important factor to influence the dielectric properties and can be manipulated via oxide artificial lattice to obtain large dielectric constant and its nonlinearity.

Assessing the respective emotional status of both the patient and family caregiver is needed in hospice care to reduce the gap in QOL between the two groups. Further, more attention should be paid to the lack of social support for family caregivers.

ObjectivePrevious studies comparing surgical pleth index (SPI)-guided and conventional analgesia have shown differing results. Therefore, we compared the intraoperative opioid requirement, extubation time, postoperative pain scores, and perioperative adverse events between these two modalities.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials comparing the intraoperative opioid requirement and other outcomes between the two modalities. The mean difference (MD) or the pooled risk ratio and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for analysis. A heterogeneity (I2) assessment was performed.ResultsSix randomized controlled trials comparing 463 patients were included. Intraoperative opioid consumption was significantly lower in the SPI-guided than conventional analgesia group (standardized MD, −0.41; 95% CI, −0.70 to −0.11; I2 = 53%). No significant intergroup difference was observed in the pain score on the first postoperative day or the incidence of perioperative adverse events. The extubation time was considerably shorter in the SPI-guided than conventional analgesia group (MD, −1.91; 95% CI, −3.33 to −0.49; I2 = 67%).ConclusionsCompared with conventional analgesia, SPI-guided analgesia can reduce intraoperative opioid consumption and facilitate extubation. Moreover, no intergroup difference was observed in the degree of postoperative pain or incidence of perioperative adverse events.

Scaphocapitate fracture syndrome is rare, complex injury. We report an unusual presentation of scaphocapitate fracture syndrome, involving fracture of the scaphoid and capitate associated with volar dislocation of the lunate and scaphoid and the proximal fragment of the capitate in a 30-year-old male after a motor vehicle accident. Computed tomography was found to be helpful for achieving the correct diagnosis. Open reduction and internal fixation was performed. The scaphoid fracture was fixed using a headless compression screw, and the volar displaced proximal fragment of the capitate was reduced to its original position, but could not be fixed because of severe comminution. This case cautions that the capitate fragment should not be excised even when it cannot be fixed due to comminution.