Medicine
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Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is a marker of oxidative stress and cholestasis. Because of its low specificity, clinicians usually ignore its diagnostic value. To compare and analyze the clinical features of GGT in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), drug-induced liver injury (DILI), alcoholic liver disease (ALD), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) from the perspective of different causes instead of the severity of the disease. ⋯ In NAFLD, GGT was positively correlated with ALT, AST, and TG. The abnormal GGT in PBC and cholestasis DILI was associated with cholestasis; in ALD, it was associated with oxidative stress and cholestasis, and in NAFLD, it was associated with oxidative stress. GGT levels had different characteristics in different liver diseases, which were closely related to the pathogenesis of liver diseases.
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The aim of this study was to investigate root canal curvature and direction of maxillary lateral incisors in Shandong, China. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 176 maxillary lateral incisors of 88 patients were collected in Shandong Province, China. Software included with CBCT was used to measure the angle of root canal curvature of maxillary lateral incisors on the maximum bending plane. ⋯ The most curved root canal of maxillary lateral incisors oriented in the palato-distal direction. The maxillary lateral incisors were mainly curved root canals of which the proportion of moderate curvature was the largest. Software included with CBCT would provide some valuable information for root canal instrumentation of maxillary lateral incisors.
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Adequate evidence showed hormone therapy (HT) reduces the risk of new-onset diabetes in midlife women by decreasing fasting glucose and insulin. However, the improvement of these diabetic biomarkers varied with each individual in clinical observations. The objective of our study was to investigate potential baseline factors associated with the change of fasting glucose and insulin during HT. ⋯ Greater reduction in fasting glucose in women with higher FSH levels was observed even though they have already been in better metabolic conditions (P = .037). Midlife women with higher baseline FSH levels have greater reduction in fasting glucose but not fasting insulin. FSH could be an independent predictor of glycemic response to HT in peri- and postmenopausal women.
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Synovial sarcoma accounts for 5% to 10% of all soft tissue sarcomas and involves almost any anatomic site, particularly the deep soft tissue of the extremities of young adults. The incidence rate of lymph node metastases in synovial sarcoma is 3% to 7%, but the detailed morphological features of the metastatic tumors in the lymph node have not been documented. ⋯ The main mass and the metastatic lesion can be clearly different morphologically. In tumors with biphasic differentiation, such as synovial sarcoma, cells that constitute only a small fraction of the main mass may appear as the dominant cells in metastatic lesions.
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In the pubertal period, bone age advances rapidly in conjunction with growth spurts. Precise bone-age assessments in this period are important, but results from the hand and elbow can be different. We aimed to compare the bone age between the hand and elbow around puberty onset and to elucidate the chronological age confirming puberty onset according to elbow-based bone age. ⋯ The chronological age for confirming puberty onset using the elbow was 12.2 years in boys and 10.3 years in girls. The bone ages of hand and elbow were different at puberty, and the elbow was a more reliable location for bone-age assessment at puberty. Puberty onset according to elbow occurred slightly earlier than expected.