Exploring factors impacting patient decisions in hemorrhoid surgery: A questionnaire survey in Taiwan.

Background: Minimally invasive hemorrhoid surgeries like Doppler-Guided Hemorrhoidal Artery Ligation (DGHAL) and Stapled Hemorrhoidopexy (PPH) offer benefits over traditional methods. This study investigated public perceptions and attitudes towards these surgeries, exploring awareness, preferences, and influencing factors.

Methods: A detailed questionnaire was disseminated to 2011 participants from various regions of Taiwan in December 2023, gathering data on demographics, understanding of minimally invasive surgery, and attitudes towards hemorrhoid surgery.

Laparoscopic training workshop to assess medical students' skill acquisition and interest in surgical careers.

Background: With its minimally invasive approach, laparoscopic surgery has transformed the medical landscape. As the demand for these procedures escalates, there is a pressing need for adept surgeons trained in laparoscopic techniques. However, current training often falls short of catering to medical school education.

Performance of the Fecal Immunochemical Test in Detecting Advanced Colorectal Neoplasms and Colorectal Cancers in People Aged 40-49 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing. Many guidelines recommend initiating screening at 45 years. This study investigated the detection rate of advanced colorectal neoplasm (ACRN) by using fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) in individuals aged 40-49 years.

Impact on inadequate lymph node harvest on survival in T4N0 colorectal cancer: A would-be medical center experience in Taiwan.

Insufficient lymph node harvest (< 12) may lead to incorrect classification of stage I and II disease. Many studies have indicated a poor prognosis with inadequate lymph node harvest in stages I to III, but few studies have demonstrated the relationship between low lymph node harvest and T4 disease. This study aimed to identify the influence of insufficient number of lymph nodes harvested on survival in T4N0 colorectal cancer.

Using Deep Neural Network Approach for Multiple-Class Assessment of Digital Mammography.

According to the Health Promotion Administration in the Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics in Taiwan, over ten thousand women have breast cancer every year. Mammography is widely used to detect breast cancer. However, it is limited by the operator's technique, the cooperation of the subjects, and the subjective interpretation by the physician.

Clerodane diterpene induces apoptosis/anoikis and suppresses migration and invasion of human bladder cancer cells through the histone deacetylases, integrin-focal adhesion kinase, and matrix metalloproteinase 9 signalling pathways.

Clerodane diterpene, a class of bicyclic diterpenoids, is found in hundreds of plant species. 16-hydroxycleroda-3,13-dien-15,16-olide (CD) can be isolated from the plant ia and has been applied against oral cancer and glioma by xenograft model. In this study, we aim to explore its antitumour action by examining its histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity and integrin-associated intracellular signalling pathway on T24 human bladder cancer (BC) cells.

High Expression of Folate Receptor Alpha (FOLR1) is Associated With Aggressive Tumor Behavior, Poor Response to Chemoradiotherapy, and Worse Survival in Rectal Cancer.

Recently, molecular medicine targeting Folate Receptor Alpha (FOLR1), which mediates intracellular folate uptake and tumor cell proliferation, has been identified in several malignancies. However, the association between FOLR1 expression and rectal cancer remains unclear. Immunostaining of FOLR1 was performed on biopsy specimens from 172 rectal cancer patients undergoing preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

The impact of a multispecialty operative team on colorectal cancer surgery: A retrospective study from a would-be medical center in Taiwan.

Some studies showed that when distant metastasis or locally advanced tumors were observed, the participation of 2 or more operating surgeons (combined surgery) in the operation could improve the prognosis of patients. The multispecialty operative team would perform combined surgery in colon cancer patients with some complications since 2015. The goal of this study is to confirm performing combined surgery would improve the outcomes of colon cancer patients.

Segmentation of liver tumors with abdominal computed tomography using fully convolutional networks.

Background: Dividing liver organs or lesions depicting on computed tomography (CT) images could be applied to help tumor staging and treatment. However, most existing image segmentation technologies use manual or semi-automatic analysis, making the analysis process costly and time-consuming.

Objective: This research aims to develop and apply a deep learning network architecture to segment liver tumors automatically after fine tuning parameters.

An Observational Study of Trifluridine/Tipiracil-Containing Regimen Versus Regorafenib-Containing Regimen in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Background: There are no randomized control trials comparing the efficacy of trifluridine/tipiracil and regorafenib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Herein, we conducted an observational study to compare the oncologic outcomes of trifluridine/tipiracil-containing regimen (TAS-102) and regorafenib-containing regimen (REG) in patients with mCRC.

Material And Method: Patients who were diagnosed to have mCRC in 2015 to 2021 and treated with TAS-102-containing regimen or REG-containing regimen were recruited.

How to do noninflated intracorporeal anastomosis.

We present a modified technique called noninflated intracorporeal ileocolic anastomosis, which maintains the benefits of the intracorporeal technique, but has the advantages of no requirement for laparoscopic suturing.

Utility of RGNEF in the Prediction of Clinical Prognosis in Patients with Rectal Cancer Receiving Preoperative Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy.

Rectal cancer is a heterogeneous malignancy with different clinical responses to preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). To discover the significant genes associated with CCRT response, we performed data mining of a transcriptomic dataset (GSE35452), including 46 rectal cancer patients who received preoperative CCRT and underwent standardized curative resection. We identified ARHGEF28 as the most significantly upregulated gene correlated with resistance to CCRT among the genes related to Rho guanyl-nucleotide exchange factor activity (GO:0005085).

Overexpression of MLPH in Rectal Cancer Patients Correlates with a Poorer Response to Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy and Reduced Patient Survival.

Data mining of a public transcriptomic rectal cancer dataset (GSE35452) from the Gene Expression Omnibus, National Center for Biotechnology Information identified the melanophilin () gene as the most significant intracellular protein transport-related gene (GO:0006886) associated with a poor response to preoperative chemoradiation. An MLPH immunostain was performed on biopsy specimens from 172 rectal cancer patients receiving preoperative chemoradiation; samples were divided into high- and low-expression groups by H-scores. Subsequently, the correlations between MLPH expression and clinicopathologic features, tumor regression grade, disease-specific survival (DSS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and metastasis-free survival (MeFS) were analyzed.

The Bariatric Surgery Is Associated with a Lower Incidence of Malignancy: Real World Data from Taiwan.

Purpose: This study assessed the benefits and efficacy of bariatric surgery (BS) in reducing the risk of cancer in Asians with morbid obesity.

Methods: Records for patients aged between 18 and 55 years whose diagnoses corresponded with the ICD-9 codes for obesity and BS were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan between 2000 and 2015. The patients who underwent BS (BS group), those who did not undergo BS (NS group), and the general population (GP group) were propensity score matched.

Low-Cost Hole-Transporting Materials Based on Carbohelicene for High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells.

Two hole-transporting materials (HTMs) based on carbohelicene cores, and , are developed and used in fabricating efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Owing to the rigid conformation of the helicene core, both compounds possess unique CH-π interactions in the crystalline packing pattern and good phase stability, which are distinct from the π-π intermolecular interactions of conventional planar and spiro-type molecules. PSCs based on and as HTMs deliver excellent device efficiencies of 19.

Prolonged preoperative fasting induces postoperative insulin resistance by ER-stress mediated Glut4 down-regulation in skeletal muscles.

Preoperative fasting aims to prevent pulmonary aspiration and improve bowel preparation, but it may induce profound systemic catabolic responses that lead to protein breakdown and insulin-resistant hyperglycemia after operation. However, the molecular mechanisms of catabolic reaction induced by prolonged preoperative fasting and surgical stress are undetermined. In this study, anesthetized rats were randomly assigned to receive a sham operation or laparotomy cecectomy.

Synergistic Antiproliferative Effect of Ribociclib (LEE011) and 5-Fluorouracil on Human Colorectal Cancer.

Background/aim: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. This study aimed to investigate the anticancer effect of the combination treatment of Ribociclib (LEE011) and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) on CRC cells.

Materials And Methods: HT-29 and SW480 cells were treated with LEE011, 5-FU, or the combination of LEE011 and 5-FU.

Reparative and toxicity-reducing effects of liposome-encapsulated saikosaponin in mice with liver fibrosis.

Saikosaponin d (SSd), a primary active component of the Chinese herb Bupleurum falcatum, has antitumor and antiliver fibrosis effects. However, the toxicity of SSd at high doses can induce conditions such as metabolic disorders and hemolysis in vivo, thus hampering its clinical use. The present study investigated the toxicity-reducing effects of liposome encapsulation of pure SSd and the therapeutic action of SSd-loaded liposomes (Lipo-SSd) in liver fibrosis in vitro and in vivo.

BMI1-KLF4 axis deficiency improves responses to neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with rectal cancer.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is a gold standard treatment for patients with stage II/III rectal cancer. B-cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion site 1 (BMI1) is a member of the polycomb group of proteins that are involved in regulating gene expression. High levels of BMI1 have been demonstrated to contribute to the malignant phenotypes of several cancers; however, its relevance in rectal cancer treated with CCRT is largely unknown.

Development of Block Copolymers with Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Segments as Compatibilizers in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-segment-based block copolymers have been reported to deliver an effective compatibilizer function in the P3HT:PCBM bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) system to simultaneously improve performance and stability. However, as limited by the deficient optophysic properties of the P3HT:PCBM system, the resultant power conversion efficiency (PCE) of compatibilizer-mediated devices is low despite the optimized chemical structures of the P3HT-segment-based block copolymers. To better shed light on such a compatibilizer effect, the compatibilizer function of the P3HT-segment-based block copolymers is herein investigated in the emerging non-fullerene acceptor (NFA)-based BHJ systems.

The Clinical Implication of Vitamin D Nanomedicine for Peritoneal Dialysis-Related Peritoneal Damage.

Purpose: Vitamin D is a novel potential therapeutic agent for peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritoneal fibrosis, but it can induce hypercalcemia and vascular calcification, which limits its applicability. In this study, we create nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems to investigate its therapeutics and side effects.

Materials And Methods: 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N- [amino-(polyethylene glycol)2000] (DSPE-PEG) and L-α-phosphatidylcholine (PC), which packages with 1α,25(OH)D, were used to construct vitamin D nanoliposomes.