The significant reduction of macrophage phagocytotic capability in these patients suggests the potential for disease recurrence. The use of a serum-free method confirmed the presence of intrinsic factors that modulate the decrease of macrophage function in SLE.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a common hospital-acquired infection. It causes patients to stay longer in the hospital and increases medical costs. This study explores the effect of applying an automatic medical information system to implement five-item prevention care bundles on the prevention of ventilator-related pneumonia. This study was a retrospective cohort study. This study was conducted from October 2017 to February 2018 and collected data from the intensive care unit of a medical center in southern Taiwan from January 2013 to May 2016. The control group (enrolled from January 2013 to June 2014) received oral hygiene. The experimental group (enrolled from July 2014 to December 2015) received five-item ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention care bundles, which consisted of (1) elevation of the head of the bed to 30–45°; (2) daily oral care with 0.12−0.2% chlorhexidine twice daily; (3) daily assessment of readiness to extubate; (4) daily sedative interruption; and (5) emptying water from the respirator tube. Results showed the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the bundle group was significantly less than the oral hygiene group (p = 0.029). The factors that significantly affected the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia were ventilator-associated pneumonia care bundle, ventilator-days, and intensive care unit length of stay. A significant reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia rate in the bundle group compared to the oral hygiene group (OR = 0.366, 95% CI = 0.159–0.840) was observed, with 63.4% effectiveness. Application of an automatic medical information system to implement bundle care can significantly reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Okara, the soybean residue from soy milk production, contains nutrients and functional components.The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of okara supplementation on fatigue and muscle damage in university athletes over an exercise training season. A total of 23 male university baseball players aged 18-23 years attending a summer intensive exercise training program completed an 8-week exercise training-okara intervention study. The supervised exercise training program consisted of physical and technical training including warm-up exercises, physical and skill practice, and pre-game competition practice. Okara supplementation in this study was a randomized, double-blind and crossover dietary intervention in which subjects consumed 2 cookies/day containing 10 g of soybean or black soybean okara for a period of 6 weeks with a one-week washout period. Blood was drawn 4 times within an 8-week intervention period for measurements of biomarkers for fatigue and muscle damage. The results demonstrated significant differences in blood levels of ammonia, free fatty acids, creatine kinase, myoglobin, and aspartate transferase between baseline and exercise training, indicating that fatigue and muscle damage occurred during exercise training. However, those increased markers of fatigue and muscle damage were significantly decreased after the okara supplementation regardless of whether soybean okara or black soybean okara cookies were consumed. This is the first study to demonstrate that okara supplementation is beneficial to university baseball players who experience exercise training-related fatigue and muscle damage. Fatigue and muscle damage occurring during exercise training were both relieved, indicating that okara cookies are feasible sports nutrition supplements.