Introduction: The advancements in neonatal resuscitation and surgical care have enabled children with congenital abnormalities to receive corrective surgeries and achieve lifespans well into adulthood. These patients may require long-term follow-up as they continue to have risks of developing sequelae from their original diseases or surgical interventions.
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the current practice and barriers to the transition of care (TOC) from the perspectives of adult surgeons.
Background: The non-saponin (NS) fraction is an important active component of with multifunctional pharmacological activities including neuroprotective, immune regulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. However, the effects of NSs on multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic and autoimmune demyelinating disorder, have not yet been demonstrated.
Purpose: and Methods: The goal of the present study was to demonstrate the pharmacological actions of NSs on movement dysfunctions and the related mechanisms of action using an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS.
Background: Vertebral fractures are a common medical issue. Physical activity helps improve bone health and manage the risk of fractures. However, much controversy exists about the association between physical activity and vertebral fractures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Support for the treatment of uncomplicated appendicitis with non-operative management rather than surgery has been increasing in the literature. We aimed to investigate whether treatment of uncomplicated appendicitis with antibiotics in children is inferior to appendicectomy by comparing failure rates for the two treatments.
Methods: In this pragmatic, multicentre, parallel-group, unmasked, randomised, non-inferiority trial, children aged 5-16 years with suspected non-perforated appendicitis (based on clinical diagnosis with or without radiological diagnosis) were recruited from 11 children's hospitals in Canada, the USA, Finland, Sweden, and Singapore.
Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a critical emergency. Conventional scoring models for patients with UGIB have limitations; thus, more suitable tools for the Emergency Department are necessary. We aimed to develop a new model that can identify significant predictors of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission in Emergency Department patients with UGIB and to compare its predictive accuracy with that of existing models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In middle-income countries, healthcare systems face unique challenges in ensuring timely antenatal detection of congenital abnormalities that require pediatric surgical intervention. Early detection can significantly improve outcomes, yet resource constraints often limit access to diagnostic technologies. This study evaluates the antenatal detection rate of congenital abnormalities referred to pediatric surgical services in three Malaysian tertiary centers and examines its effect on maternal anxiety.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGinseng is a traditional herbal medicine with a long history of use for the prevention and/or treatment of various diseases. Ginseng is used worldwide as a functional food to maintain human health. In addition, ginseng has been used as a raw ingredient in cosmetics with various applications, ranging from skin toning to anti-aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The STAT trial is a multicenter randomized controlled trial in 12 centers worldwide aiming to determine the most effective operation for neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) requiring intestinal resection: stoma formation (ST) or primary anastomosis (PA).
Methods: Infants having a primary laparotomy for NEC were randomized intraoperatively to PA or ST if the operating surgeon thought that both were viable treatment options for that patient. The primary outcome (duration of parenteral nutrition [PN]) was evaluated by Cox regression.
Ginseng has anti-hyperglycemic effects. Gintonin, a glycolipoprotein derived from ginseng, also stimulates insulin release from pancreatic beta cells. However, the role of gintonin in glucose metabolism within skeletal muscle is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising chemotherapeutic agent because of its selective apoptotic action on cancer cells. However, resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis remains a challenge in many cancers. The gintonin-enriched extract fraction (GEF) has diverse pharmacological benefits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemoresponsive dyes offer the potential to selectively detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) unique to certain disease states. Among different VOC sensing techniques, colorimetric sensing offers the advantage of facile recognition. However, it is often challenging to discern the color changes by the naked eye.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn cutting-edge optical technologies, polarization is a key for encoding and transmitting vast information, highlighting the importance of selectively switching and modulating polarized light. Recently, anisotropic two-dimensional materials have emerged for ultrafast switching of polarization-multiplexed optical signals, but face challenges with low polarization ratios and limited spectral ranges. Here, we apply strain to quasi-one-dimensional layered ZrSe to enhance polarization selectivity and tune operational energies in ultrafast all-optical switching.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Quality of life (QOL) is an important clinical endpoint in paediatric chronic conditions. How parent-proxy reports differ from child self-reported QOL in patients with anorectal malformation (ARM) and Hirschsprung's disease (HD) has not been well examined to date. This study evaluates agreement between parent-proxy and child-reported QOL scores in ARM and HD patients compared to healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Early diagnosis of biliary atresia (BA) is critical for best outcomes, but is challenged by overlapping clinical manifestations with other causes of obstructive jaundice in neonates. We evaluate the performance of the modified Simple BA Scoring System (SBASS) in diagnosing BA.
Methods: We performed a prospective, cross-sectional study on infants with cholestatic jaundice (June 2021-December 2022).
Purpose: Down syndrome (DS) is a common abnormality associated with anorectal malformation (ARM) and Hirschsprung's disease (HD). However, quality of life (QOL) in ARM and HD patients with DS is under-researched. This study compares parent-reported QOL and bowel function in ARM and HD patients with DS to those without.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdoptive cell transfer (ACT) with neoantigen-reactive T lymphocytes can mediate cancer regression. Here we isolated unique, personalized, neoantigen-reactive T cell receptors (TCRs) from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of patients with metastatic gastrointestinal cancers and incorporated the TCR α and β chains into gamma retroviral vectors. We transduced autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes and adoptively transferred these cells into patients after lymphodepleting chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Determining the exact weight of children is a challenging task during emergency situations. Current guidelines recommend the use of length-based weight-estimating tapes. However, healthcare providers must either always carry the tapes or take time to locate them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix (MACA) follows a complex disease course with variable survival. Large-scale predictive modeling may determine subtle yet important prognostic factors otherwise unseen in smaller cohort analyses.
Methods: Patients with MACA were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Research Plus database (2005-2019).
The objective of the study is to estimate the potential of gintonin, as an immune enhancing agent through natural killer cell (NK cell) activity in cyclophosphamide (CY)-induced immunosuppressive animals. Accumulated results reveals that, gintonin attenuated CY-induced immunosuppression and it might modulate NK cell activity to boost the immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Patients with anorectal malformation (ARM) and Hirschsprung's disease (HD) live with long-term impact of these diseases even into adulthood. We aimed to explore the physical, social and emotional impact of these diseases in adolescents and young adults to develop best practices for transition care.
Methods: We conducted one-on-one in-depth interviews with ARM and HD patients aged ≥ 11 years who had undergone surgery at four tertiary referral centers.