Publications by authors named "Chia C"

Background: Fungating breast wounds cause significant complications and morbidity to patients. Wound care is of paramount importance in optimising care and alleviating suffering for patients with malignant breast wounds. Currently, routinely implemented objective assessment tools for fungating breast wound treatment outcomes are non-existent, and institutional practice varies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The study aims to explore if combining standard exercises with pulse electromagnetic field therapy can enhance stability and reduce muscle weakness in patients with chronic ankle instability.
  • * A randomized trial with 48 participants will compare the effects of active therapy with a placebo over 8 weeks, with evaluations conducted at multiple follow-up points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Prehabilitation has been increasingly utilized to optimize perioperative outcomes. In this study, we aim to evaluate the impact of uni- and multimodal prehabilitation on functional capacity and postoperative outcomes among surgical oncology patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.

Patients And Methods: Three electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane) were systematically searched up until December 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Insulin resistance, stem cell dysfunction, and muscle fiber dystrophy are all age-related events in skeletal muscle (SKM). However, age-related changes in insulin isoforms and insulin receptors in myogenic progenitor satellite cells have not been studied. Since SKM is an extra-pancreatic tissue that does not express mature insulin, we investigated the levels of insulin receptors (INSRs) and a novel human insulin upstream open reading frame (INSU) at the mRNA, protein, and anatomical levels in Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) biopsied SKM samples of 27-89-year-old (yrs) participants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Tracheostomy in the setting of head and neck cancer may be performed either electively for prophylactic airway protection in an ablative procedure, or as an emergency due to impending airway obstruction in the setting of an obstructing upper aerodigestive tract malignancy. Tracheostomy care has biopsychosocial implications, which may require a higher level of care from carers, post-acute care, or placement into care facilities. Existing database studies have largely excluded patients with a history of head and neck cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Body composition and glucose metabolism change with aging. Whether different levels of body-mass-index (BMI) are needed to define diabetes risk across the adult lifespan is unknown.

Objective: This work aimed to investigate whether BMI similarly reflects relative fat mass (FM) and diabetes risk across age groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Anatomical changes in the bronchial tree after a left lower lung lobectomy are not thoroughly documented, making it important to understand them for effective lung isolation and ventilation.
  • The case study focuses on a 60-year-old woman with a history of left lower lobectomy, preparing for elective video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.
  • The aim is to discuss the specific challenges and management strategies encountered, raising awareness among healthcare professionals about these complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy-oxaliplatin (PIPAC-OX) induces direct DNA damage and immunogenic cell death in patients with gastric cancer peritoneal metastases (GCPM). Combining PIPAC-OX with immune checkpoint inhibition remains untested. We conducted a phase I first-in-human trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of PIPAC-OX combined with systemic nivolumab (NCT03172416).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study aims to investigate the activation of frontotemporal functional brain areas in patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) during a Verbal Fluency Task (VFT), and to compare their brain functional connectivity in a resting state with that of healthy controls. The goal is to deepen our understanding of the neuropathological mechanisms underlying OCD.

Methods: 32 patients with OCD and 32 controls matched for age, gender, handedness, and years of education participated in this study, they were divided into OCD group and healthy comtrol group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * A systematic review of 25 studies involving 3820 patients revealed that DL has a high positive predictive value (93.04%) and very high sensitivity (98.26%), indicating it is effective for preoperative selection despite some associated complications.
  • * Findings suggest that DL can improve patient outcomes and optimize resources, but further multicenter studies are needed to confirm its accuracy in various primary cancer cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) models have been applied in various medical imaging modalities and surgical disciplines, however the current status and progress of ultrasound-based AI models within hepatopancreatobiliary surgery have not been evaluated in literature. Therefore, this review aimed to provide an overview of ultrasound-based AI models used for hepatopancreatobiliary surgery, evaluating current advancements, validation, and predictive accuracies.

Method: Databases PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science were searched for studies using AI models on ultrasound for patients undergoing hepatopancreatobiliary surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) and fibromyalgia (FM) are leading causes of suffering, disability, and social costs. Current pharmacological treatments do not target molecular mechanisms driving CLBP and FM, and no validated biomarkers are available, hampering the development of effective therapeutics. Omics research has the potential to substantially advance our ability to develop mechanism-specific therapeutics by identifying pathways involved in the pathophysiology of CLBP and FM, and facilitate the development of diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic biomarkers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A pancreatic pseudocyst is a fluid-filled sac with an inflammatory wall that develops after pancreatitis, and it can't be diagnosed until at least 4 weeks after symptoms start.
  • Common symptoms include abdominal pain, and imaging tests like CT or MRI are used to confirm the diagnosis.
  • Management options vary based on symptoms and complications, potentially requiring endoscopic or surgical drainage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Peritoneal metastasis (PM), the regional progression of intra-abdominal malignancies, is a common sequelae of colorectal cancer (CRC). Immunotherapy is slated to be effective in generating long-lasting anti-tumour response as it utilizes the specificity and memory of the immune system. In the tumour microenvironment, tumour associated macrophages (TAMs) are posited to create an anti-inflammatory pro-tumorigenic environment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Field cancerization is suggested to arise from imbalanced differentiation in individual basal progenitor cells leading to clonal expansion of mutant cells that eventually replace the epithelium, although without evidence.

Methods: We performed deep sequencing analyses to characterize the genomic and transcriptomic landscapes of field change in two patients with synchronous aerodigestive tract tumors.

Results: Our data support the emergence of numerous genetic alterations in cancer-associated genes but refutes the hypothesis that founder mutation(s) underpin this phenomenon.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Timely palliative care and surgical interventions improve symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and reduce medical cost for seriously ill adults at end of life (EOL). However, there is still poor delivery and underutilization of these palliative services. We hypothesize that the sub-optimal delivery is due to limited understanding among healthcare providers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phonons are envisioned as coherent intermediaries between different types of quantum systems. Engineered nanoscale devices, such as optomechanical crystals (OMCs), provide a platform to utilize phonons as quantum information carriers. Here we demonstrate OMCs in diamond designed for strong for interactions between phonons and a silicon vacancy (SiV) spin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As people age, their ability to maintain homeostasis in response to stressors diminishes. Physical frailty, a syndrome characterized by loss of resilience to stressors, is thought to emerge due to dysregulation of and breakdowns in communication among key physiological systems. Dynamical systems modeling of these physiological systems aims to model the underlying processes that govern response to stressors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF