Annals of medicine
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Occupational balance (OB) is a desirable outcome of rehabilitation because it is related to various health indices. The Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ) is a self-report measure of occupational balance. ⋯ OBQ11-A demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties for research purposes.
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Infection by carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) has high mortality. There is no clear optimal therapeutic choice for pneumonia caused by CRKP. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes and safety of the standard doses of polymyxin B-based regimens vs tigecycline-based regimens and to identify risk factors for mortality. ⋯ Polymyxin B-based combination therapy at the standard dose should be used with caution for patients with CRKP-induced pneumonia, especially for men who used carbapenems prior to CRKP detection.
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Comparative Study
Improvement in signs and symptoms of severe dry eye disease after dual therapy with high-potency steroids and 0.05% cyclosporine.
To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of combining 0.05% cyclosporine A (CsA) with high-potency steroids for treating severe dry eye disease (DED). ⋯ Dual therapy combining high-potency steroids and 0.05% CsA significantly improved the signs and symptoms of severe DED compared with 0.05% CsA monotherapy, without severe complications.
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Optimizing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) can enhance treatment efficacy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study compares modified TACE (M-TACE), which combines a lipiodol-based emulsion and drug-eluting beads, with drug-eluting bead TACE (DEB-TACE) as initial therapies for solitary HCC. ⋯ M-TACE showed higher initial CR rates, lower LTP rates, and extended time to LTP compared to DEB-TACE, indicating its potential to enhance TACE effectiveness for solitary HCC.
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Thyroid nodules are common, and investigation is crucial for excluding malignancy. Increased intranodular vascularity is frequently observed in malignant tumors, which can be detected through increased skin surface temperatures using noninvasive infrared thermography. We aimed to develop a diagnostic tool for thyroid cancer using infrared thermal images combined with an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. ⋯ The infrared thermal images, assisted by an AI model, exhibit good performance in distinguishing thyroid malignancy from benign nodules. This imaging modality has great potential to be used as a noninvasive screening tool for adjunct evaluation of thyroid nodules.