Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Remarkable progress has been made in immunotherapy, specifically antibodies for programmed death 1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), for treating advanced cancers. In this study, we explored whether circulating immune cells can be used as biomarkers of the efficacy of such therapy. ⋯ The low pretreatment PD-1 positivity of peripheral B cells and the constant posttreatment PD-L1 positivity of monocytes were associated with disease control after nivolumab treatment for advanced HCC.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the outpatient advance care planning (ACP) services provided by veterans hospitals in Taiwan. ⋯ COVID-19 severely changed outpatient ACP services provided by hospitals. The results obtained by this study offer valuable insight regarding the provision of outpatient ACP services.
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Kisspeptin and its receptor KISS1R have been found to be essential regulators of reproductive function. Previous data have revealed the presence of Kiss1 and Kiss1r mRNAs in the hypothalamus and the testis of humans and rodents. However, the precise location and possible physiological role of the kisspeptin/KISS1R system in the testis remain ambiguous. ⋯ We discovered that Kiss1 expression in mouse Leydig cells was induced by LH through the cAMP/PKA pathway. Based on the presence of kisspeptin receptors on spermatids, we inferred that kisspeptin- and development-related factors have synergistic effects on spermatogenesis. Nevertheless, more studies are required to elaborate the role of the kisspeptin/KISS1R system in testicular development.