Background: Ensuring the quality of healthcare services relies heavily on the professional competence of nurses. This study aimed to assess the internal consistency and construct validity of a competency assessment questionnaire developed for nurses working in tertiary-level hospitals in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the internal reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire used to assess nurses’ competency Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among 390 nurses employed at tertiary hospitals in Ulaanbaatar. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Internal reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha, and construct validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Results: The 55-item questionnaire demonstrated excellent internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=0.981). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure was 0.972, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (p<0.001), indicating the data were suitable for factor analysis Conclusions 1. The internal consistency of the questionnaire showed a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.981, indicating excellent reliability. In addition, the Cronbach’s alpha values for each of the seven subscales were all above 0.90, demonstrating strong inter-item correlations and stability of the measurement indicators. The developed questionnaire is a highly reliable and valid tool for assessing the competencies of nurses in Mongolia. Its strong psychometric properties support its use in both research and professional development contexts. 2. Factor analysis was conducted using the Varimax rotation method to evaluate the construct validity of the questionnaire. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure was 0.972, and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity was significant (p<0.001), indicating that the data were suitable for factor analysis. The analysis identified seven factors, each with a loading above 0.60, confirming the high construct validity of the measurement tool.

Background: The development and evaluation of nurse competency is an important research area that directly impacts the improvement of nursing quality and the optimization of the healthcare systems. Aim: To determine the psychometric properties, specifically the reliability and content validity, of the Mongolian version of the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses. Materials and Methods: Research approval was obtained from the research ethics committee of the MNUMS (approval no. 2024/3-06), and adhering to ethical principles. Copyright owners granted permission to the principal investigator (PI) to use and translate the CIRN. Three bilingual experts were invited to be involved in the forward–backward translation process into the Mongolian language. Instrument reliability was pilot-tested with 30 nurses, who had similar characteristics with study sample. We collected data from 550 registered nurses, randomly selected and working in 11 reference-level and national centers in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, and five Regional Diagnostic and Treatment Centers (RDTCs) of Mongolia. Results: The most of participants were female (96.9%); ages ranged from 20 to 63 ages with an average of 36.50. The internal consistency reliability of the CIRN was very high and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.97 respectively. The content validity indices (I-CVI≥0.78, S-CVI/Ave=0.98, S-CVI/UA=0.85) indicated satisfactory content validity. Factor analysis with Varimax rotation showed factor loadings ranging from 0.380 to 0.780. Conclusions 1. The Mongolian version of the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN) confirmed acceptable internal reliability. 2. The Mongolian version of the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN) was confirmed to be a valid instrument with appropriate content validity.

Objective To analyze the muscle and fat status of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD),and ex-plore the correlation with disease development.Methods One hundred and eighteen patients with COPD(study group)and 97healthy subjects(control group)were selected.Body mass index(BMI),fat-free weight(FFM),skeletal muscle index(SMM),appendicular skeletal muscle height index(ASMHI),percent body fat(PBF),visceral fat area(VFA),waist circumference(WaistCir),upper arm circumference(AC),upper arm muscle circumference(AMC),phase angle(PA)and other indicators were measured by bioelectrical impedance and height scale,and were compared and analyzed between the two groups.At the same time,the basic information,laboratory indicators and admission pulmonary function test data of patients with COPD were collected for correlation analysis.To identify the optimal cut-off value for FFM in the diagnosis of malnutrition according to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition(GLIM)diagnostic criteria.Results The FFM,SMM,lower limb muscles,ASMHI and AMC in study group were lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).The BMI,PBF and VFA of the patients in the smoking cessation group were higher than those in the continuous smoking group(P＜0.05).The forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1),forced expiratory volume in one second in predicted(FEV1％pred),forced vital capacity(FVC)and FEV1/FVC were lower in patients with low-ASMHI(P＜0.05).Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio(NLR)was higher in the low-ASMHI group than taht in the normal ASMHI group(P＜0.05).The results of GLIM diagnostic showed that 50.8％of COPD patients were malnourished.The optimal cut-off value of FFM for predicting malnutrition was 47.85kg.Conclusion Patients with COPD are prone to unbalanced distribution of muscle and fat.The consistency of FFM with the diagnosis of GLIM has impor-tant clinical significance for the early identification and diagnosis of malnutrition.

Objective:To explore the risk stratification value of HEART score combined with cardiac troponin (cTn) in emergency patients with chest pain.Methods:A total of 11 583 patients with chest pain who visited the Emergency Department of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from January to December 2019 were retrospectively collected. Patients who unfinished 0 h high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) or electrocardiogram diagnosed ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) or lost to follow-up were excluded, and 7 057 patients were finally included. The final diagnosis of chest pain and the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events within 6 mon (6 m MACEs) were followed up by telephone and medical history. The HEART score of each patient was calculated by two attending physicians, and the patients were divided into the low-risk group (0-3 points), intermediate-risk group (4-6 points) and high-risk group (7-10 points) according to the final score. The risk stratification performance and safety of HEART score were observed and analyzed. A total of 1 884 patients who completed serial hs-cTnT tests were divided into groups according to HEART score (≤3 as low-risk group) and HEART score combined with serial hs-cTnT pathway (HEART score ≤3 and two hs-cTnT measurements <0.03 ng/mL as the low-risk group). The sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of each diagnostic method were calculated to compare the diagnostic performance of the two predictive values.Results:The patients were divided into 3 groups by HEART score : 2 765 (39.2%) patients in the low-risk group, 3 438 (48.7%) in the intermediate-risk group, and 854 (12.1%) in the high-risk group. The incidence of 6 m MACEs in each group was 1.2%, 18% and 55.3%, respectively. When the low-risk threshold was 2, 23.1% of patients entered the low-risk group and the incidence of 6 m MACEs was 0.9%. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predictive performance of the HEART score for 6 m MACEs, and the final AUC was 0.831 ( P=0.006, 95% CI: 0.819-0.843). Regarding the occurrence of NSTEMI at the time of this visit, 4 (0.8%) patients were misdiagnosed by using the HEART score alone. Combined with serial troponin detection, the diagnostic SE and NPV were both 100%; at the same time, the diagnostic SE and NPV of 6 m MACEs in patients increased from 98.1% (95% CI: 96.9%-99.1%), 97.9% (95% CI: 96.2%-99%) to 99.1% (95% CI: 97.9%-99.7%) and 98.9% (95% CI: 97.4%-99.6%), the diagnosis SE and NPV of 6 m myocardial infarction and cardiac death in patients increased from 98% (95% CI: 96%-99.2%), 98.6% (95% CI: 97%-99.4%) to 99.2% (95% CI: 97.6%-99.8%) and 99.3% (95% CI: 98.1%-99.9%). Conclusions:The HEART score can be used for risk assessment in emergency patients with chest pain, and a threshold of 2 is recommended for the low-risk group. The diagnostic performance of HEART score combined with serial cTn is better than that of HEART score alone.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with acute aortic dissection (AAD) through a retrospective and observational study, and to construct an early warning model of AAD that could be used in the emergency room.Methods:The data of 11 583 patients in the Emergency Chest Pain Center from January to December 2019 were retrospectively collected from the Chest Pain Database of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. Inclusion criteria: patients with chest pain who attended the Emergency Chest Pain Center between January and December 2019. Exclusion criteria were 1) younger than 18 years, 2) no chest/back pain, 3) patients with incomplete clinical information, and 4) patients with a previous definite diagnosis of aortic dissection who had or had not undergone surgery. The clinical data of 9668 patients with acute chest/back pain were finally collected, excluding 53 patients with previous definite diagnosis of AAD and/or without surgical aortic dissection. A total of 9 615 patients were enrolled as the modeling cohort for early diagnosis of AAD. The patients were divided into the AAD group and non-AAD group according to whether AAD was diagnosed. Risk factors were screened by univariate and multivariate logistic regression, the best fitting model was selected for inclusion in the study, and the early warning model was constructed and visualized based on the nomogram function in R software. The model performance was evaluated by accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio. The model was validated by a validation cohort of 4808 patients who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria from January 2020 to June 2020 in the Emergency Chest Pain Center of the hospital. The effect of early diagnosis and early warning model was evaluated by calibration curve.Results:After multivariate analysis, the risk factors for AAD were male sex ( OR=0.241, P<0.001), cutting/tear-like pain ( OR=38.309, P<0.001), hypertension ( OR=1.943, P=0.007), high-risk medical history ( OR=12.773, P<0.001), high-risk signs ( OR=7.383, P=0.007), and the first D-dimer value ( OR=1.165, P<0.001), Protective factors include diabetes( OR=0.329, P=0.027) and coronary heart disease ( OR=0.121, P<0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the early diagnosis and warning model constructed by combining the risk factors was 0.939(95 CI:0.909-0.969). Preliminary validation results showed that the AUC of the early diagnosis and warning model was 0.910(95 CI:0.870-0.949). Conclusions:Sex, cutting/tear-like pain, hypertension, high-risk medical history, high-risk signs, and first D-dimer value are independent risk factors for early diagnosis of AAD. The model constructed by these risk factors has a good effect on the early diagnosis and warning of AAD, which is helpful for the early clinical identification of AAD patients.

Discovery of drugs from medicinal plants continues to provide major leads against various pharmacological targets, particularly in cancer diseases. Hence, there are increasing demands to discover more therapeutic agents from various species of medicinal plants. Chemical compounds in plants are important for human beings due to their therapeutic properties. Goniothalamus umbrosus, Typhonium flagelliforme, Myrmecodia pendens, Strobilanthes crispus and Clinacanthus nutans, are among the herbal species, which are consumed by cancer patients in order to combat against the growth of cancer cells. The present review aims to highlight on the anti-cancer properties of the listed Malaysian herbs.
Plants, Medicinal ; Neoplasms