Using the Glottic Angle and Area in Cases of Bilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis.

Establish, through the determination of the glottic angle and area, a decision regarding safe and necessary interventions in bilateral vocal fold paralysis to maintain airway. From January 2008 to December 2023, we looked back at laryngoscopic photographs of subjects with bilateral vocal fold paralysis. The average vocal fold length for each gender was used to calculate the glottic areas and measure the corresponding glottic angles in a total of 26 cases.

Topical indocyanine green antimicrobial photodynamic therapy for refractory feline chronic gingivostomatitis: A case report.

Feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is a painful and severe inflammatory mucosal disease in cats that presents significant challenges in treatment. This case study describes a novel approach for a cat with FCGS that was unresponsive to antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and dental extraction. The cat exhibited rapid improvement after undergoing oral indocyanine green (ICG)-mediated antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT); however, treatment was discontinued due to an episode of anaphylaxis.

A pre-trained language model for emergency department intervention prediction using routine physiological data and clinical narratives.

Introduction: The urgency and complexity of emergency room (ER) settings require precise and swift decision-making processes for patient care. Ensuring the timely execution of critical examinations and interventions is vital for reducing diagnostic errors, but the literature highlights a need for innovative approaches to optimize diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes. In response, our study endeavors to create predictive models for timely examinations and interventions by leveraging the patient's symptoms and vital signs recorded during triage, and in so doing, augment traditional diagnostic methodologies.

Using a clinical narrative-aware pre-trained language model for predicting emergency department patient disposition and unscheduled return visits.

The increasing prevalence of overcrowding in Emergency Departments (EDs) threatens the effective delivery of urgent healthcare. Mitigation strategies include the deployment of monitoring systems capable of tracking and managing patient disposition to facilitate appropriate and timely care, which subsequently reduces patient revisits, optimizes resource allocation, and enhances patient outcomes. This study used ∼ 250,000 emergency department visit records from Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital to develop a natural language processing model using BlueBERT, a biomedical domain-specific pre-trained language model, to predict patient disposition status and unplanned readmissions.

Trade agreements and tobacco control policy: analysis of the impact of FCTC on regulatory contents of trade agreements from 2001 to 2019.

Background: This study aims to analyze the impact of Framework of Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) on regulatory contents of trade agreements from 2001 to 2019.

Methods: A search of trade agreements from'WTO Regional Free Trade Agreement Database' using keywords including "tobacco", "cigarette", "smoking" and "FCTC" from May to August 2020 resulted in a total sample of 268 trade agreements, from which 69 trade agreements were coded and analyzed. Provisions in trade agreements, identified via the aforementioned keywords, were categorized into 6 trade measures.

Decreasing the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infection in a medical intensive care unit: a best practice implementation project.

Introduction And Objectives: Bloodstream infections are common in critically ill patients using central venous access devices (CVAD) in intensive care units (ICU). This project aimed to decrease the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) by using evidence-based strategies.

Methods: The project applied the JBI audit and feedback methods.

Antagonizing apolipoprotein J chaperone promotes proteasomal degradation of mTOR and relieves hepatic lipid deposition.

Background And Aims: Overnutrition-induced activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) dysregulates intracellular lipid metabolism and contributes to hepatic lipid deposition. Apolipoprotein J (ApoJ) is a molecular chaperone and participates in pathogen-induced and nutrient-induced lipid accumulation. This study investigates the mechanism of ApoJ-regulated ubiquitin-proteasomal degradation of mTOR, and a proof-of-concept ApoJ antagonist peptide is proposed to relieve hepatic steatosis.

Clinical narrative-aware deep neural network for emergency department critical outcome prediction.

Since early identification of potential critical patients in the Emergency Department (ED) can lower mortality and morbidity, this study seeks to develop a machine learning model capable of predicting possible critical outcomes based on the history and vital signs routinely collected at triage. We compare emergency physicians and the predictive performance of the machine learning model. Predictors including patients' chief complaints, present illness, past medical history, vital signs, and demographic data of adult patients (aged ≥ 18 years) visiting the ED at Shuang-Ho Hospital in New Taipei City, Taiwan, are extracted from the hospital's electronic health records.

Fluctuating Cutaneous Varices as a Diagnostic Clue for a Huge Right Atrial Mass in a Dialysis Patient.

A 72-year-old man presented with altered consciousness. His past medical history included left renal cell carcinoma status post nephrectomy 3 years earlier, end-stage renal disease with regular hemodialysis, and central venous obstruction with stenting at the right subclavian vein and superior vena cava 8 months earlier. He was intubated and placed on a mechanical ventilator and inotropes for managing respiratory failure and shock.

The Effect of Lavender on Sleep Quality in Individuals Without Insomnia: A Systematic Review.

We reviewed 20 randomized controlled trials concerning the intervention methods and effects of lavender essential oil on adults' sleep quality. Fourteen showed positive intervention effects. A mixture of subjective and objective indicators was used.

New insight into chronic pruritus' characteristics and association with the demographic characteristics and sleep of community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan.

This study aimed to understand the characteristics of chronic pruritus (CP), its correlations with sleep quality and demographic characteristics, and its impacts on sleep of older adults. This study used convenience sampling to recruit adults aged 65 or older and living at home. The prevalence rate of CP in older adults was 25.

REM-related obstructive sleep apnea and vertigo: A retrospective case-control study.

Background: In recent population-based case-control studies, sleep apnea was significantly associated with a higher incidence (hazard ratio, 1.71) of vertigo and the risk of tinnitus was found to increase 1.36 times in patients with sleep apnea.

Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide and gingival fibroblast augment MMP-9 expression of monocytic U937 cells through cyclophilin A.

Background: Intercellular cross-talking was suggested in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 expression with unknown mechanisms. Studies showed cyclophilin A (CypA) playing an important role in regulating MMP-9 expression in varied diseases. The aim of the study was to examine the CyPA on the MMP-9 augmentation in monocytic U937 cells after Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment and human gingival fibroblast (hGF) co-culture.

Sterol O-acyltransferase 2 chaperoned by apolipoprotein J facilitates hepatic lipid accumulation following viral and nutrient stresses.

The risks of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) include obese and non-obese stresses such as chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but the regulatory determinants remain obscure. Apolipoprotein J (ApoJ) served as an ER-Golgi contact-site chaperone near lipid droplet (LD), facilitating HCV virion production. We hypothesized an interplay between hepatic ApoJ, cholesterol esterification and lipid deposit in response to NAFLD inducers.

Downregulation of Xeroderma Pigmentosum Complementation Group C Expression by 17-Allylamino-17-Demethoxygeldanamycin Enhances Bevacizumab-Induced Cytotoxicity in Human Lung Cancer Cells.

Introduction: Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XPC) protein is an important DNA damage recognition factor involved in nucleotide excision repair and regulation of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell proliferation and viability. 17-Allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) blocks ATP binding to heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), resulting in destabilization of Hsp90-client protein complexes. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic growth factor expressed by many types of tumors.

Fibroblast-enhanced cyclophilin A releasing from U937 cell upregulates MMP-2 in gingival fibroblast.

Objective: This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the expression of cyclophilin A (CyPA) in U937 monocytic cells after coculturing with the human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) and the effect of CyPA on the augmentation of MMP-2 expression in the coculture environment.

Background: Leukocyte infiltration in gingival connective tissue is one of the major findings in the lesions of inflammatory periodontal diseases. A crosstalk between the resident gingival fibroblasts and the recruited inflammatory cells that promote the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) was proposed based on recent findings, whereas the cluster of differentiation 147 (CD147)-CyPA pathway was suggested to be involved with the crosstalk.

sp. nov., isolated from irrigation water.

Bacterial strain TWA-58, isolated from irrigation water in Taiwan, was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomy approach. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and coding sequences of 92 protein clusters indicated that strain TWA-58 formed a phylogenetic lineage in the genus of the family . Strain TWA-58 was most closely related to NVT with a 96.

sp. nov., isolated from a freshwater lake.

A bacterial strain designated CAR-16 was isolated from a freshwater lake in Taiwan and characterized using the polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile by gliding, rod-shaped and formed rose-colored colonies. Optimal growth occurred at 30 °C, pH 7 and with 0 % NaCl.

sp. nov., isolated from a freshwater pond.

A novel bacterial strain, designated KMB7, isolated from a freshwater pond in Taiwan, was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, motile by means of a single polar flagellum, rod-shaped and formed cream colonies. Optimal growth occurred at 25 °C, pH 7, and in the absence of NaCl.