J Formos Med Assoc
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The aims of the study were to examine the role of mental health in peoples' attitude toward same-sex marriage in Taiwan, as well as the moderating effects of gender, age, and sexual orientation on the association between mental health and attitude toward same-sex marriage. ⋯ Our findings suggest that poor mental health was significantly associated with opposition to same-sex marriage. This relationship is more pronounced among older and heterosexual people.
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Mitochondrial assembly receptor (MasR), a receptor of angiotensin-(1-7), plays an important role in the anti-cancer effect of the peptide hormone. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the crucial role of angiotensin-(1-7)/MasR axis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients who received curative esophagectomy. ⋯ Low expression of MasR may be associated with poor prognosis in ESCC patients receiving curative esophagectomy. Further cohort study with larger population, or a prospective study is warranted to validate this finding.
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Double-lumen endotracheal tubes and bronchial blockers are the two lung separation devices most commonly used for lung resection. The preference and outcomes of choosing different lung separation devices have not been discussed in the literature. ⋯ The use of bronchial blockers is increasing as the experience of anaesthesiologists increases. Although double-lumen endotracheal tubes remain the principal choice for lung separation in Taiwan, clinical outcomes of the bronchial blocker group were not inferior to those of the double-lumen endotracheal tube group.
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Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has been gradually introduced in the diagnosis of mediastinal tuberculous (TB) lymphadenitis. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the utility of polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB-PCR) using EBUS-TBNA rinse fluid and to explore the factors that influence the accuracy of EBUS-TBNA. ⋯ EBUS-TBNA is a valuable tool for diagnosis of mediastinal TB lymphadenitis. Using TB-PCR assay and targeting LNs with a necrotic component would improve the diagnostic performance of EBUS-TBNA.
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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now a global liver disease. The fatty liver index (FLI), which is calculated by the equation comprising waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride, and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), is frequently used for hepatic steatosis evaluation. This study aimed to evaluate the optimal cut-off point of FLI to select subjects for abdominal ultrasonography (US) screening for NAFLD in the community. ⋯ FLI could be a tool to select subjects for abdominal US in a large community survey. The cut-off point of FLI might be set to 10 for female and 20 for male subjects, to increase the sensitivity for selecting subjects to receive abdominal US.