J Formos Med Assoc
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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic threat. Although there are huge impacts on health care, the influences of medical educations are less discussed. Our brief communication is the first-hand discussions of the measures of medical schools of Taiwan facing COVID-19 and the influences of medical education.
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Invasive Trichosporon infections are emerging, but association of different therapeutic management of Trichosporon fungemia and clinical outcomes were rarely reported. This study investigates the epidemiology, species distribution and genotypes of trichosporonosis in Taiwan, and identified the predictors of clinical outcomes in patients with Trichosporon fungemia. ⋯ This is the largest series of Trichosporon fungemia up till the present moment. Voriconazole therapy and source control play important roles in 14-day mortality.
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Predictors of long-term outcomes of peginterferon (PegIFN) therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remain to be explored. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of virological and immunological biomarkers and outcomes of PegIFN for CHB. ⋯ Baseline serum CXCL9 and HBsAg levels could predict HBsAg loss after PegIFN therapy for HBeAg-negative CHB. Combining virological and immunological biomarkers could predict long-term outcomes of PegIFN therapy for HBeAg-negative CHB.
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Palbociclib is an FDA-approved cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor that has been clinically proven to be effective in breast cancer. However, its use in oral cancer is not well researched. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory activity of palbociclib against oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and explored the mechanism of inhibition. ⋯ Palbociclib was found to have anti-oral squamous cell carcinoma activity and to simultaneously induce DNA damage and inhibit its repair, and to accelerated cellular senescence and apoptosis.