Effects of Lymphaticovenous Anastomosis on Quality of Life, Body Image, and Spiritual Health in Lymphedema Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Lymphedema is a debilitating condition that significantly affects quality of life due to its chronic nature and visible symptoms. Lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA) has emerged as a promising surgical intervention, yet its effects on body image and spiritual health alongside physical symptoms have not been thoroughly examined. This study evaluates the efficacy of LVA in improving symptoms, quality of life (QOL), body image, and spiritual well-being in lymphedema patients.

- Invited Review - Reproductive technologies needed for the generation of precise gene-edited pigs in the pathways from laboratory to farm.

Gene editing (GE) offers a new breeding technique (NBT) of sustainable value to animal agriculture. There are 3 GE working sites covering 5 feasible pathways to generate GE pigs along with the crucial intervals of GE/genotyping, microinjection/electroporation, induced pluripotent stem cells, somatic cell nuclear transfer, cryopreservation, and nonsurgical embryo transfer. The extension of NBT in the new era of pig breeding depends on the synergistic effect of GE and reproductive biotechnologies; the outcome relies not only on scientific due diligence and operational excellence but also on the feasibility of application on farms to improve sustainability.

Activated macrophages of CD 163 gene edited pigs generated by direct cytoplasmic microinjection with CRISPR gRNA/Cas9 mRNA are resistant to PRRS virus assault.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infects placental and lung macrophages, causing a global epidemic with economic loss. Attempts to develop an effective vaccine to control the disease have not been effective. Currently, developing PRRSV disease-resistant pigs via a gene editing (GE) strategy to mutate the PRRSV receptor or to delete the binding domain on the macrophage appears promising.

Neoadjuvant intra-arterial versus intravenous chemotherapy in colorectal cancer.

To investigate the clinical benefits of transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy compared with intravenous chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).From May 2013 to March 2018, 83 patients (50 men and 33 women) with surgically proven CRC were retrospectively included. Before surgery, 62 patients received conventional systemic chemotherapy, and 21 transcatheter arterial chemotherapy.

Orthotopic Versus Allotopic Implantation: Comparison of Radiological and Pathological Characteristics.

Background: In experimental animal models, implantation location might influence the heterogeneity and overall development of the tumor, leading to an interpretation bias.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of implantation location in experimental tumor model using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pathological findings.

Study Type: Prospective.

The Preschool-Aged and School-Aged Children Present Different Odds of Mortality than Adults in Southern Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Analysis.

: This study aimed to profile the epidemiology of injury among preschool-aged and school-aged children in comparison to those in adults. : According to the Trauma Registry System of a level I trauma center, the medical data were retrieved from 938 preschool-aged children (aged less than seven years), 670 school-aged children (aged 7⁻12 years), and 16,800 adults (aged 20⁻64 years) between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2016. Two-sided Pearson’s, chi-squared, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare categorical data.

Artificial neural network approach to predict surgical site infection after free-flap reconstruction in patients receiving surgery for head and neck cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop an effective surgical site infection (SSI) prediction model in patients receiving free-flap reconstruction after surgery for head and neck cancer using artificial neural network (ANN), and to compare its predictive power with that of conventional logistic regression (LR).

Materials And Methods: There were 1,836 patients with 1,854 free-flap reconstructions and 438 postoperative SSIs in the dataset for analysis. They were randomly assigned tin ratio of 7:3 into a training set and a test set.

Patterns Associated with Adult Mandibular Fractures in Southern Taiwan-A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study.

This study aimed to determine the patterns associated with adult mandibular fractures from a Level-I trauma center in southern Taiwan. The data of adult trauma patients admitted between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2014 were retrieved from the Trauma Registry System and retrospectively reviewed. Fracture site and cause of injury were categorized into groups for comparison, and corresponding odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained by multivariate logistic regression.

Generation of GGTA1 Mutant Pigs by Direct Pronuclear Microinjection of CRISPR/Cas9 Plasmid Vectors.

This study was conducted to confirm that 1-site and 4-site ppU6-GGTA1-gRNA CRISPR vectors together with the pCX-Flag2-NLS-Cas9-NLS plasmid can both generate KO pigs by direct pronuclear microinjection. In total, 41 and 53 fertilized eggs were microinjected on 1-site and 4-site strategies, respectively. The 1-site construction generated a litter of 8 piglets, and 2 were mono-allelic mutant (mMt).

Image quality improvement in three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography using the subtraction method for brain and temporal bone diseases.

Background: Time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance (MR) angiography is based on flow-related enhancement using the T1-weighted spoiled gradient echo, or the fast low-angle shot gradient echo sequence. However, materials with short T1 relaxation times may show hyperintensity signals and contaminate the TOF images. The objective of our study was to determine whether subtraction three-dimensional (3D) TOF MR angiography improves image quality in brain and temporal bone diseases with unwanted contaminations with short T1 relaxation times.

Sonographic diagnosis of a subclinical wandering spleen: role of the decubitus position.

A wandering spleen is a rare condition. It is usually diagnosed when abdominal pain develops secondary to splenic torsion. Although splenic hypermobility is the pathognomonic feature of a wandering spleen, it is rarely revealed by imaging in the subclinical stage.