Background: Multimodal treatment involving preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery is the current standard of care for rectal cancer. Despite advancements, the risk of recurrence, metastasis, and decreased survival remains high. This study aims to evaluate potential biomarkers to stratify prognosis in patients with rectal cancer undergoing preoperative CRT and surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) is common in adrenal adenomas, including patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) with aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA). This study investigated the impact of MACS on cardiac remodeling and diastolic dysfunction in patients with APA.
Methods: We prospectively enrolled 483 patients with APA.
Aims: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effects of a home-based multicomponent exercise programme on frailty in patients who underwent cardiac surgery.
Methods And Results: A convenience sample of 92 patients who underwent cardiac surgery at two medical centres in Taiwan were recruited and randomly allocated to the intervention (n = 46) and control (n = 46) groups. The intervention group underwent a 12-week home-based multicomponent exercise programme, including individual nursing consultation, home-based exercise intervention, nutritional assessment and guidance, and continuous support.
Microplastic pollution significantly threatens marine ecosystems, including those with unique adaptations. This study evaluates the implications of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) on the hydrothermal vent crab, Xenograpsus testudinatus. Crabs were exposed to varying fluorescent green polyethylene microspheres (FGPE) concentrations for 7 days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Concurrent electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been used to assist in the presurgical localization of seizure foci in people with epilepsy. Our study aimed to examine the clinical feasibility of an optimized concurrent EEG-fMRI protocol.
Methods: The optimized protocol employed a fast-fMRI sequence (sampling rate = 10 Hz) with a spare arrangement, which allowed a time window of 1.