Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Two recent studies in the adult and pediatric Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis-Clinical Research Network (NASH-CRN) cohorts have shown that soluble interleukin-2 receptor alpha (IL2RA) levels increased with fibrosis severity. However, no hepatic study has been conducted in Asian morbidly obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery. In this study, we proposed IL2RA as a biomarker for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) diagnosis and performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of IL2RA. ⋯ IL2RA is significantly associated with NASH in morbidly obese patients and would be a useful biomarker for NASH diagnosis.
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Observational Study
Metabolic effects of cross-sex hormone therapy in transgender individuals in Taiwan.
Transgender individuals often require gender-affirming interventions, such as endogenous sex hormone inhibition or gender-affirming hormone therapy (HT), while there is discordance between their body and gender identity. However, a recent study found that the incidence of cardiovascular events is higher in transgender patients receiving cross-sex HT. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic effects of an altered sex hormone profile. ⋯ This observational, retrospective study revealed that gender-affirming HT increased the relative cardiovascular risk in trans masculine individuals.
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This study aimed to evaluate the differences in nurses' willingness to discuss palliative care with terminally ill patients and their family members. ⋯ There are significant differences in nurses' willingness to discuss palliative care with patients and their family members. Further research is needed to evaluate factors associated with nurses' willingness to discuss palliative care with patients and their families to facilitate these discussions and protect patients' autonomy.
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The Constipation Severity Instrument (CSI) is a well-validated measure for assessing constipation severity. At present, no translated traditional Chinese version of the scale is available. We aimed to develop a traditional Chinese version of the CSI and to validate the translated version. ⋯ We demonstrated the reliability and validity of the traditional Chinese version of the CSI, which could be a standardized tool for future studies on constipation.
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This study assessed the perception of facial taperness in Taiwanese females among people with dental knowledge and laypersons. Additionally, this study also specified the criteria by which "square face" was defined regarding Taiwanese females' facial taperness. ⋯ A face with a taperness greater than 83% was evaluated as a square face, and a face with a taperness around 75% was considered as the most attractive.