PurposeThe National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort (NHIS-HEALS) is a cohort of participants who participated in health screening programmes provided by the NHIS in the Republic of ...Korea. The NHIS constructed the NHIS-HEALS cohort database in 2015. The purpose of this cohort is to offer relevant and useful data for health researchers, especially in the field of non-communicable diseases and health risk factors, and policy-maker.ParticipantsTo construct the NHIS-HEALS database, a sample cohort was first selected from the 2002 and 2003 health screening participants, who were aged between 40 and 79 in 2002 and followed up through 2013. This cohort included 514 866 health screening participants who comprised a random selection of 10% of all health screening participants in 2002 and 2003.Findings to dateThe age-standardised prevalence of anaemia, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolaemia and abnormal urine protein were 9.8%, 8.2%, 35.6%, 2.7%, 14.2% and 2.0%, respectively. The age-standardised mortality rate for the first 2 years (through 2004) was 442.0 per 100 000 person-years, while the rate for 10 years (through 2012) was 865.9 per 100 000 person-years. The most common cause of death was malignant neoplasm in both sexes (364.1 per 100 000 person-years for men, 128.3 per 100 000 person-years for women).Future plansThis database can be used to study the risk factors of non-communicable diseases and dental health problems, which are important health issues that have not yet been fully investigated. The cohort will be maintained and continuously updated by the NHIS.
Although programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have shown some efficacy in treating advanced NSCLC, their benefits are limited to only a subset of patients. ...Advanced NSCLC is generally treated with a chemotherapy and immunotherapy series. Here we evaluated whether PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors affect the antitumor effects of salvage chemotherapy administered after immunotherapy (SCAI) in patients with NSCLC.
This study included patients with available SCAI response data. We compared the SCAI objective response rates (ORRs) with the ORRs after the last chemotherapy administered before immunotherapy (LCBI).
In total, 73 patients met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analyses. Of these patients, 10 received PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors as first-line therapy and the remaining 63 had available LCBI response data. Of the 73 patients treated with SCAI, 39 (53.4%) achieved the ORR, whereas the ORR of LCBI was 34.9% (22 of 63) (p = 0.03). We also compared the ORRs of the SCAI and LCBI groups after stratification into platinum doublet therapy versus nonplatinum monotherapy. The ORRs for platinum doublet SCAI and LCBI therapies were 66.7% (16 of 24) and 39.5% (17 of 43), respectively (p = 0.03), whereas for nonplatinum SCAI and LCBI monotherapies they were 46.9% (23 of 49) and 25.0% (5 of 20), respectively (p = 0.09).
The ORR for SCAI was significantly higher than that for LCBI. These data indicate that anti–PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors could make tumors more vulnerable to subsequent chemotherapy.
Objectives
Conventional guided bone regeneration (GBR) limits the amount of bone graft due to limited soft tissue expansion. We hypothesize that the use of tissue expander will successfully augment ...soft tissue prior to bone graft, allowing for sufficient amount of grafting which will lead to a more stable and effective vertical bone graft. The authors aimed to evaluate effectiveness of the novel self‐inflating tissue expander for vertical augmentation in terms of soft tissue expansion, clinical outcomes, and related complications.
Material and methods
A prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial was performed on patients requiring vertical augmentation. For experimental group patients, the tissue expander was subperiosteally implanted and followed by a tunneling bone graft without full flap reflection. Control patients underwent conventional vertical GBR. Primary objectives were to evaluate the dimensional changes of soft tissue and radiographic vertical bone gain and retention. As a secondary outcome, clinical complications and thickness changes of expanded overlying tissue were assessed and analyzed.
Results
Twenty‐three patients in each group were included. During a 4‐week expansion, two of the experimental group showed over‐expansion and one showed mucosal perforation associated with previous severe scars. The other patients showed uneventful expansion and mean tissue augmentation was 6.88 ± 1.64 mm vertically. Ultrasonographic measurements of overlying gingiva revealed no thinning after tissue expansion (p > .05). Significantly higher vertical bone gain was shown in the experimental group (5.12 ± 1.25 mm) compared with that in the control patients (4.22 ± 1.15 mm; p < .05). After a 6‐month retention period, the mean vertical bone measurement of the controls had decreased to 1.90 mm (55.0% reduction), which was a significantly greater decrease than that in the experimental group (mean 3.55 mm, 30.7% reduction; p < .05).
Conclusion
Our results demonstrated the effectiveness of tissue expanders followed by tunneling bone graft for vertical augmentation; however, studies comparing the two techniques without tissue expanders are needed to elucidate the net effect of tissue expansion.
CD24 is associated with unfavourable prognoses in various cancers, but the prevalence of CD24 expression and its influence on clinical outcome in subtypes of breast cancers remain unclear. CD24 ...expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in 747 breast cancer tissues, and DNA methylation and histone modification status in the promoter region of CD24 were assessed using bisulfite sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. 213 (28.5%) samples exhibited high CD24 expression in the membrane and/or cytoplasm of breast cancer cells, and CD24 overexpression was significantly correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis and more advanced pathological stage. Patients with CD24-high tumours had significantly shorter patient survival than those with CD24-low tumours. Importantly, multivariate analysis that included tumour size, lymph node metastasis and chemotherapy demonstrated that high CD24 expression is independently associated with poorer survival in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. Furthermore, CD24 gene expression was associated with histone acetylation independent of DNA methylation, suggesting its epigenetic regulation in breast cancer. Our results suggest that CD24 overexpression is an independent unfavourable prognostic factor in breast cancer, especially for luminal A and TNBC subtypes, and CD24 may be a promising therapeutic target for specific subtypes of breast cancer.
Objectives This study sought to investigate the predictors and outcomes of side branch (SB) occlusion after main vessel (MV) stenting in coronary bifurcation lesions. Background SB occlusion is a ...serious complication that occurs during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for bifurcation lesions. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing PCI using drug-eluting stents for bifurcation lesions with SB ≥2.3 mm were enrolled. We selected patients treated with the 1-stent technique or MV stenting first strategy. SB occlusion after MV stenting was defined as Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade <3. Results SB occlusion occurred in 187 (8.4%) of 2,227 bifurcation lesions. In multivariate analysis, independent predictors of SB occlusion were pre-procedural percent diameter stenosis of the SB ≥50% (odds ratio OR: 2.34; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.59 to 3.43; p < 0.001) and the proximal MV ≥50% (OR: 2.34; 95% CI: 1.57 to 3.50; p < 0.001), SB lesion length (OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.003 to 1.06; p = 0.03), and acute coronary syndrome (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.19; p = 0.02). Of 187 occluded SBs, flow was restored spontaneously in 26 (13.9%) and by SB intervention in 103 (55.1%) but not in 58 (31.0%). Jailed wire in the SB was associated with flow recovery (74.8% vs. 57.8%, p = 0.02). Cardiac death or myocardial infarction occurred more frequently in patients with SB occlusion than in those without SB occlusion (adjusted hazard ratio: 2.34; 95% CI: 1.15 to 4.77; p = 0.02). Conclusions Angiographic findings of SB, proximal MV stenosis, and clinical presentation are predictive of SB occlusion after MV stenting. Occlusion of sizable SB is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. (Korean Coronary Bifurcation Stenting Registry II COBIS; NCT01642992 )
Research on vitamin D in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease (PD) is limited. We aimed to compare the vitamin D parameters of patients with NTM-PD to those of a healthy ...control group, and to assess the possible predictive markers for a clinical response. We prospectively enrolled 53 patients with NTM-PD between January 2014 and December 2016. The clinical data and vitamin D indices, including total, free, bioavailable 25-(OH)D, and vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) genotyping, were measured at baseline and six months after enrollment. An external dataset of 226 healthy controls was compared with the NTM-PD group. The mean age of subjects was 53 years; 54.5% were male. The NTM-PD group was older, predominantly female, and had a lower body mass index (BMI) than the controls. The proportion of patients with vitamin D concentration <50 nmol/L was 52.8% in the NTM-PD group and 54.9% in the control group (p = 0.789). The bioavailable 25-(OH)D concentrations of the NTM-PD group and the controls were similar (6.9 nmol/L vs. 7.6 nmol/L, p = 0.280). In the multivariable analysis, bioavailable 25-(OH)D concentrations were associated with NTM-PD, adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and VDBP levels. Bioavailable 25-(OH)D concentrations were significantly associated with susceptibility to NTM-PD, but not with treatment outcomes. Lower bioavailable 25-(OH)D might be a risk factor for NTM-PD.
Classic laparoscopic cholecystectomy) using multiple ports is a widely used method with excellent surgical outcomes. However, the resulting wounds do not meet the cosmetic needs of patients. ...Therefore, this study aimed to find a new minimally invasive surgical method for invisible wounds while maintaining surgical safety through a new port site.
In this prospective cohort study, we used propensity score matching analysis to evaluate the perioperative outcomes of multiport laparoscopic cholecystectomy using articulating devices with the lower abdominal approach. We performed a propensity score matching analysis of prospectively maintained data from 228 patients who underwent classic laparoscopic cholecystectomy using straight instruments and laparoscopic cholecystectomy with a lower abdominal approach using articulating devices between January and October 2022. A single surgeon performed all operations included in the study. We evaluated several perioperative outcomes.
No differences were found in potential confounding factors, such as sex, age, admission type, previous abdominal surgery, and medical comorbidities, between the 2 groups after propensity score matching. In the classic laparoscopic cholecystectomy group, the mean operation time was shorter (43.73 ± 23.71 vs 50.60 ± 9.75 min; P < .04). No significant difference was noted in the 2 groups’ numerical rating scale scores for pain, body mass index, and incidence of postoperative complications. The mean length of hospital stay was longer for patients who underwent classic laparoscopic cholecystectomy (4.27 vs 2.07 days; P = .064). The lower abdominal laparoscopic cholecystectomy group had delayed defecation after surgery.
Regarding surgical outcomes and minimal invasiveness, lower abdominal laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a feasible cholecystectomy method.
Potassium copper hexacyanoferrate (II)–clinoptilolite (KCuHCF–CL) composite was prepared for cesium removal in this study. The composite was characterized by FT-IR, SEM and TGA analyses. The effects ...of several factors such as contact time, temperature, concentration, pH and competitive ions were investigated. The prepared sorbents were better fitted to the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity (
q
m
) was 1.001 mmol g
−1
at 60 °C. The adsorption process onto the composite was thermodynamically feasible and endothermic. Cs adsorption capacity was highest in the pH range of 7 – 8, while the acidic and alkali conditions resulted in the decrease of adsorption ability. To examine the practical applicability, Cs removal test from the simulated wastewater was carried out. KCuHCF KCuHCF–CL composite shows the high selectivity, sufficient capacity and good applicability.
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