J Formos Med Assoc
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Noninvasively predicting kidney tubulointerstitial fibrosis is important because it's closely correlated with the development and prognosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Most studies of shear wave elastography (SWE) in CKD were limited to non-linear statistical dependencies and didn't fully consider variables' interactions. Therefore, support vector machine (SVM) of machine learning was used to assess the prediction value of SWE and traditional ultrasound techniques in kidney fibrosis. ⋯ SWE with SVM modeling could improve the diagnostic performance of traditional kidney ultrasound in predicting different kidney tubulointerstitial fibrosis grades among CKD patients.
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Various microRNAs (miRs) have been found to be associated with the development of the precancerous condition of the oral cavity, oral submucous fibrosis (OSF). The expression of miR-29c is dysregulated in oral cancer, but its role in OSF has not been investigated. The purpose of the study is to investigate the functional role of miR-29c and its target in OSF. ⋯ MiR-29c seems to exert an inhibitory effect on myofibroblast activation, such as collagen gel contractility and migration ability, via suppressing TPM1. These results suggested that approaches to upregulate miR-29c may be able to ameliorate the progression of OSF.
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This study aimed to explore the anatomical and physiological characteristics of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms, such as hoarseness, throat clearing, throat pain, globus, and chronic cough, with the novel high-resolution impedance manometry (HRIM). ⋯ Our study suggests that esophageal structural factors and LES IRP-4s may contribute to the occurrence of LPR symptoms. Patients with moderate LPR symptoms were more likely to present with failed peristalsis.
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The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to unprecedented impact on mental health globally. Recent empirical data however, indicated that suicide rates in many countries remained unchanged or even decreased. Existing studies assessed the overall rates and did not stratify by age-subgroups. ⋯ Although an overall decrease in annual suicide rates was found after the outbreak, the age-specific subgroup analysis reveals a more nuanced picture. Stratified analysis is crucial to identify vulnerable subgroups in the midst of the pandemic.
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Unresectable anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) has a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy have limited effects on it. Here, we present four cases who underwent immunotherapy for ATC. ⋯ The patient subsequently received dabrafenib (a BRAF inhibitor) and trametinib (a MEK inhibitor) treatment, which was continued for 10.2 months with a best response of partial remission. She died 18 months after the initial diagnosis (11.4 months after treatment with dabrafenib and trametinib). In conclusion, the treatment responses of immunotherapy, either alone or in combination with other therapies, were highly variable in patients with ATC and should be carefully monitored along with the side effects.