Search

Vincent Chin-Hung Chen,1,2 Tsu-Nai Wang,3 Ming-Chia Hsieh,4 Shih-Yong Chou,1 Meng-Chih Lee,5,6 Roger S McIntyre,7 Mong-Liang Lu,8 Yin-To Liao,9,10 Chih-Jung Yeh11,12 1Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan; 2School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 3Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 4U Come Joint Clinic, Taichung, Taiwan; 5Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 6College of Management, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan; 7University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; 8Department of Psychiatry, Wan-Fang Hospital and School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 9Department of Psychiatry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 10Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 11Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Taipei, Taiwan; 12School of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, TaiwanCorrespondence: Yin-To Liao, Email je2tezy@yahoo.com.tw Chih-Jung Yeh, School of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, No. 110, Section 1, Jianguo N. Road, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, Tel +886-4-24730022x12183, Fax +886-4-23248179, Email alexyeh@csmu.edu.twPurpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The coexistence of depression and DM is associated with an increased risk of DM complications and functional morbidity. The independent effect of depression on mortality in patients with DM is unclear, and relevant Asian studies have provided inconsistent results. Accordingly, this study assessed the independent and additive effects of DM and depression on mortality in a nationally representative cohort of older adults in Taiwan over a 10-year observation period.Patients and Methods: A total of 5041 participants aged 50 years or older were observed between 1996 and 2007. We defined depression as a score of ≥ 8 on the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D 10) scale. Additionally, we defined participants as having type 2 DM if they had received a diagnosis of type 2 DM from a health-care provider. Cox proportional hazard models were applied to analyze predictors of mortality in depression and DM comorbidity groups.Results: During the 10-year follow-up period, 1637 deaths were documented. After adjustment for potential confounders, the hazard ratios for mortality in participants with both depression and DM, DM only, and depression only were 2.47 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.02– 3.03), 1.95 (95% CI: 1.63– 2.32), and 1.23 (95% CI: 1.09– 1.39), respectively.Conclusion: The co-occurrence of depression with DM in Asian adults increased overall mortality rates. Our results indicate that the increased mortality hazard in individuals with DM and depression was independent of sex.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, depression, mortality, cohort

Hung-Chen Chen,1,2 Yung-Che Chen,1 Tsu-Nai Wang,3 Wen-Feng Fang,1 Ya-Chun Chang,1 Yu-Mu Chen,1 I-Ya Chen,2 Meng-Chih Lin,1 Ming-Yu Yang2,4 1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 2Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan; 3Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 4Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, TaiwanCorrespondence: Ming-Yu YangGraduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, No. 259, Wenhua 1st Road, Guishan Dist., Taoyuan City, 33302, TaiwanEmail yangmy@mail.cgu.edu.twMeng-Chih LinDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, No. 123, Dapi Road Niaosong Dist., Kaohsiung City, 83301, TaiwanEmail mengchih@cgmh.org.twPurpose: Circadian clock is synchronized to the 24-hour day by the daily light–dark cycle and proper function of circadian rhythm is essential for many physiological processes. Disruption of circadian rhythm can affect disease processes and influence disease severity, treatment responses, and even survivorship. In this retrospective case-controlled study, we tried to explore whether expression of circadian clock genes was disturbed in patients with bronchial asthma.Patients and Methods: We performed real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions to examine the expression of the nine core circadian clock genes (BMAL1, CK1ϵ, CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, PER1, PER2, PER3, and TIM) in total leukocytes of peripheral blood collected at chest clinics from 120 patients with asthma and 60 health individuals.Results: Expression levels of the nine circadian clock genes were significantly different between patients and healthy individuals, but not associated with the asthma control status. We also noted the difference of PER3 expression in asthmatic patients with and without nocturnal symptoms. In well-controlled asthmatics, expression of BMAL1, CK1ϵ, CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, and PER1 was significantly lower in patients with nocturnal symptoms than those without nocturnal symptoms. However, in not well-controlled asthmatics, expression of only BMAL1, CK1ϵ, PER1, and PER2 was significantly different between patients with and without nocturnal symptoms. Binary logistic regression analysis selected BMAL1, CKIϵ, PER3, and TIM as independent factors for bronchial asthma and ROC curves showed the combined expression of these four genes enhanced the capability of predicting asthma (AUC=0.924; 95% CI=0.875– 0.958; P< 0.001).Conclusion: Our results showed altered expression of circadian clock genes in patients with bronchial asthma and down-regulated PER3 in patients with nocturnal symptoms. Altered expression of circadian clock genes was also observed in asthmatics with or without nocturnal symptoms in well- or not well-controlled subgroups. Combined expression of BMAL1, CKIϵ, PER3, and TIM could be a potential predictor for bronchial asthma.Keywords: bronchial asthma, nocturnal symptom, circadian clock genes, PER3

Jian-An Su,1–3,* Dah-Cherng Yeh,4,* Ching-Chi Chang,5,* Tzu-Chin Lin,6,7 Ching-Hsiang Lai,8 Pei-Yun Hu,8 Yi-Feng Ho,9 Vincent Chin-Hung Chen,1,2 Tsu-Nai Wang,10,11 Michael Gossop12 1Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan; 2Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 3Department of Nursing, Chang Gung Institute of Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 4Department of Surgery, Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan; 5Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University and Department of Psychiatry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 6Department of Psychiatry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 7Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 8Department of Medical Informatics, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 9Tsaotun Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Nan-Tou,Taiwan; 10Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 11Center of Excellence for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 12King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Among the survivors, depression is one of the most common psychiatric comorbidities. This paper reports the point prevalence of major depressive disorder among breast cancer patients and the association between family support and major depressive disorder.Methods: Clinical data were collected from a breast cancer clinic of a general hospital in central Taiwan. Participants included 300 patients who were older than 18 years and diagnosed with breast cancer. Among these individuals, we used Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (a structural diagnostic tool for psychiatric disorders) to ascertain if they had major depressive disorder. We also used the Family Adaptability, Partnership, Growth, Affection, and Resolve score to assess the family support.Results: The point prevalence of major depressive disorder among breast cancer patients was 8.33%, and this was positively associated with insomnia, psychiatric family history, pain severity, and radiotherapy and negatively associated with menopause, cancer duration, hormone therapy, and family support. Family support (adjusted odds ratio =0.87, 95% CI: 0.78–0.98) was found to be an associated factor for major depressive disorder in breast cancer patients after controlling for potential risk factors.Conclusion: Major depressive disorder is a common comorbidity among breast cancer patients. Family support is an important associated factor for these patients. Health care professionals should evaluate mood problems and family support while treating these patients. Keywords: breast cancer, prevalence, depression, family support, risk factors, psychiatric disorders

These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on some of the major updates to the 2014 NCCN Guidelines for Thyroid Carcinoma. Kinase inhibitor therapy may be used to treat thyroid carcinoma that is symptomatic and/or progressive and not amenable to treatment with radioactive iodine. Sorafenib may be considered for select patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma, whereas vandetanib or cabozantinib may be recommended for select patients with metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma. Other kinase inhibitors may be considered for select patients with either type of thyroid carcinoma. A new section on "Principles of Kinase Inhibitor Therapy in Advanced Thyroid Cancer" was added to the NCCN Guidelines to assist with using these novel targeted agents.

Rationale: Asthma is often work-related and can be classified as atopic or nonatopic on the basis of its pathogenesis. Few studies have reported an association between exposure to occupational asthmogens and asthma with and without atopy. Objectives: We investigated, in adults with asthma, whether occupational exposure to asthmogens influenced the risk of having atopic or nonatopic asthma, and their level of lung function. Methods: We recruited 504 hospital-based adults with current asthma, 504 community-based control subjects, and 504 hospital-based control subjects in southern Taiwan. Asthma with atopy was defined as having asthma in combination with an increase in total IgE (>=100 U/ml) or a positive Phadiatop test (>=0.35 Pharmacia arbitrary unit/L) (Pharmacia ImmunoCAP; Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden). Occupational exposure to asthmogens was assessed with an asthma-specific job exposure matrix. Measurements and Main Results: We found a significant association between atopic asthma and exposure to high molecular weight asthmogens (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 4.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8-8.9). Nonatopic asthma was significantly associated with exposure to low molecular weight asthmogens (AOR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.6-4.3), including industrial cleaning agents and metal sensitizers. Agriculture was associated with both atopic and nonatopic asthma (AOR, 7.8; 95% CI, 2.8-21.8; and AOR, 4.1; 95% CI, 1.3-13.0, respectively). The ratio of FEV(1) to FVC in the high-risk group was significantly lower than in the no-risk group (P = 0.026) in currently employed patients with asthma. Conclusions: In adults with asthma, occupational exposure to high and low molecular weight asthmogens appears to produce differential risks for atopic and nonatopic asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used a large-scale cancer database in determination of prognostic factors for the survival of lung cancer subjects in Taiwan.~Background~Background~Total of 24,910 subjects diagnosed with lung cancer was analysed. Survival estimates by Kaplan-Meier methods. Cox proportional-hazards model estimated the death risk (hazard ratio (HR)) for various prognostic factors.~Methods~Methods~The prognostic indicators associated with a higher risk of lung cancer deaths are male gender (males versus females; HR = 1.07, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.03-1.11), males diagnosed in later periods (shown in 1991-1994 versus 1987-1990; HR = 1.13), older age at diagnosis, large cell carcinoma (LCC)/small cell carcinoma (SCC), and supportive care therapy over chemotherapy. The overall 5-year survival rate for lung cancer death was significantly poorer for males (21.3%) than females (23.6%). Subjects with squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) and treatment by surgical resection alone had better prognosis. We find surgical resections to markedly increase 5-year survival rate from LCC, decreased risk of death from LCC, and no improved survival from SCC.~Results~Results~Gender and clinical characteristics (i.e. diagnostic period, diagnostic age, histological type and treatment modality) play important roles in determining lung cancer survival.~Conclusion~Conclusions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Historically, DeMeester score over 14.7 has been used to diagnose GERD. The 2022 American Gastroenterological Association clinical guidelines define GERD based on acid exposure time (AET) instead of DeMeester score. We aim to compare outcomes after laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication (LNF) in patients based on differing GERD diagnostic criteria., Methods: Patients who underwent first-time LNF between 2009 and 2017 were identified. Demographics, objective GERD evaluation, and outcomes were maintained in an IRB-approved database. Disease-specific quality of life was assessed with a survey (GERD-HRQL) with higher values representing more symptomatic disease. Descriptive statistics, Fischer's exact test and logistic regression were used to analyze the data, p-value < 0.05., Results: 225 patients were stratified into two groups: borderline GERD (AET 4-6%, n = 25.11%) and GERD (AET ≥ 6%, n = 200.89%). The mean age was 50.1 ± 13.4 years and 169 (75%) were female. Baseline GERD-HRQL was lower in the borderline group (24.3 vs 30.0, p = 0.031). Short-term (5 weeks [IQR 4, 8]), medium-term (14 months [IQR 7.25, 31]) and long-term (6.75 years [IQR 5.5, 8]) follow-up was performed. GERD-HRQL scores did not differ between borderline and GERD patients at short-(6.0 vs 7.1, p = 0.630), medium-(12.0 vs 12.1, p = 0.818), or long-term follow-up (10.0 vs 9.0, p = 0.757). The absolute long-term improvement in GERD-HRQL was -12.3 (p = 0.022) vs. -21.3 (p < 0.001). At long-term follow-up there was no difference in PPI use (50% vs 47%, p = 0.852), satisfaction (58% vs 76%, p = 0.187), willingness to repeat the procedure given the benefit of hindsight (75% vs 85%, p = 0.386), or need for reoperation (14% vs 13%, p = 0.910)., Conclusion: Both patients with borderline GERD and GERD achieve GERD-HRQL improvements at 7 years following laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication and demonstrate similar long-term PPI usage and satisfaction with surgical results. Borderline GERD patients have lower GERD-HRQL at baseline, and thus have smaller improvements in their QOL scores. Anti-reflux surgery should be considered for patients with a diagnosis of borderline GERD refractory to medical therapy., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The role of psychiatric comorbidity as a confounder between asthma and subsequent suicide mortality in adolescents remained unclarified., Methods: This study used a 20-year community-based cohort in Taiwan. Adolescents aged 11 to 16 from 123 schools were classified into three subgroups: current asthma (symptoms present in the past year), previous asthma (history of asthma but no symptoms in the past year), and no asthma. The mortality and medical care utilizations until the end of follow-up in 2015 were obtained. Cox proportional hazard and competing risk models were performed. Different adjustment models that included covariates of demographic status, allergy, cigarette smoking, psychiatric diagnoses, alcohol or substance misuse, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders were compared., Results: During the follow-up, 285 out of 153,526 participants died from suicide. The crude hazard ratio for suicide was 1.95 (95 % CI=1.46∼2.60) in the current asthma subgroup and 2.01 (1.36∼2.97) in the previous asthma subgroup. The adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) attenuated to 1.67 (1.25∼2.24) and 1.72 (1.16∼2.54) respectively after further adjustment for all mental disorders, ADHD, substance, and alcohol use disorders., Conclusions: Our adjustment analyses stratified by different models highlight evidence of asthma as an independent risk factor that predicts suicide among adolescents. Depression and mental disorders were potential confounders and identifications of asthma and psychiatric disorders might help decrease suicide risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All the authors have no non-financial interests that may be relevant to the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Introduction: Our university-based surgery department recently transitioned to attending-only authorship of operative reports. We performed a mixed-methods investigation to determine if trainee-initiated endocrine surgical reports were associated with under-coding of specific procedures., Methods: Endocrine operations performed from July 2020 to June 2022 were identified from billing data. Pre- and post-policy RVU distributions and note modification history were reviewed to determine how often trainees captured billable differentiators over attending note modification., Results: 714 operations and 1138 billed procedures were identified. Parathyroidectomy alone showed greater mean RVUs with attending-only reports attributable to attending practice change in coding for intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring. Trainees were more likely to miss coding modifier 22 but RVU losses were prevented by attending note modification., Conclusion: Trainee-initiated operative reports were not associated with RVU losses for endocrine operations compared to attending-only reports. Trainee dictation can be improved by emphasizing education on procedural billing differences and surgical reasoning., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Observational studies and meta-analyses have indicated associations between blood lipid profiles and asthma. However, the causal association is unknown. Therefore, this study investigated the causal relationship between blood lipid profiles and asthma using bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis., Methods and Materials: Our analyses were performed using individual data from the Taiwan Biobank and summary statistics from the Asian Genetic Epidemiology Network (AGEN). The causal estimates between all genetic variants, exposures of interest and asthma were calculated using an inverse-variance weighted method based on Taiwan Biobank data from 24,853 participants (mean age, 48.8 years; 49.8% women). Sensitivity analyses, including the weighted median, MR Egger regression, MR-PRESSO, mode-based estimate, contamination mixture methods, and leave-one-out analysis, were applied to validate the results and detect pleiotropy., Results: In the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) analyses, we found evidence of a significant causal effect of an increased level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on asthma risk (β IVW  = 1.338, p = 0.001). A genetically decreased level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was also associated with asthma risk (β IVW  = -0.338, p = 0.01). We also found that an increased level of total cholesterol was associated with an increased risk of asthma (β IVW  = 1.343, p = 0.001). Several sensitivity analyses generated consistent findings. We did not find evidence to support the causality between asthma and blood lipid profiles in either direction., Conclusion: Our results supported the causal relationship between higher levels of LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol and lower levels of HDL cholesterol with an increased risk of asthma., (© 2024 University College London (UCL) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Although uncommon, adrenal hemorrhage has multiple etiologies. Because clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients with adrenal hemorrhage are inadequately described, we examined the underlying etiology, need for intervention, evolution of imaging characteristics, and adequacy of subsequent evaluation., Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with adrenal hemorrhage (radiologist-confirmed density consistent with hemorrhage on computed tomography) from 2005 to 2021 at a university-based institution. Demographic characteristics, hemorrhage etiology, and subsequent follow-up were analyzed., Results: Of 193 adrenal hemorrhage patients, the mean age was 49.2 ± 18.3 years, and 35% were female. Clinical presentations included trauma (47%), abdominal or flank pain (28%), incidental findings on imaging acquired for other reasons (12%), postoperative complication (8%), or shock (3%). Hemorrhage outside of the gland was present in 62% of patients. Unilateral hemorrhage was more frequent (93%) than bilateral (7%). A total of 12% of patients had nodules, but only 70% of these were identified on initial imaging, and only 43% had hormonal evaluation. Of 7 patients who had adrenalectomy or biopsy, pathology was either benign (57%) or nonadrenal malignancy (43%). No adrenocortical carcinomas were identified. Follow-up imaging was performed in 56% of patients and revealed decreased, stable, resolved, or increased adrenal hemorrhage size in 39%, 19%, 30%, and 12% of patients, respectively., Conclusion: Adrenal hemorrhage is secondary to multiple etiologies, most commonly trauma. In the setting of adrenal hemorrhage, many adrenal nodules were not identified on initial imaging. Only a minority of patients with nodules underwent "complete" biochemical evaluation. Follow-up imaging may improve the identification of underlying nodules needing hormonal evaluation., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous and complex etiological disease. Understanding perturbations of circulating metabolites could improve prognosis., Methods: We recruited breast cancer patients from Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) to perform untargeted (case-control design) and targeted (patient cohort) metabolomics analyses in the discovery and validation phases to evaluate interaction effects between clinical factors and plasma metabolites using multivariable Cox proportional hazards model., Results: In the discovery phase, partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that plasma metabolites were significantly different between recurrent and non-recurrent breast cancer patients. Metabolite set enrichment analysis (MSEA) and metabolomic pathway analysis (MetPA) showed that valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation was the significant pathway, and volcano plot showed significant ten upregulated and two downregulated metabolites between recurrent and non-recurrent cases. Combined with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and biological significance, creatine, valine, methionine, and mannose were selected for the validation phase. In this patient cohort with 41 new-recurrent vs. 248 non-recurrent breast cancer cases, followed for 720.49 person-years, compared with low level of valine, high valine level was significantly negatively associated with recurrent breast cancer (aHR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.18-0.72, P = 0.004), especially in ER-negative and PR-negative status. There were interaction effects between valine and ER (P interaction  = 0.006) as well as PR (P interaction  = 0.002) on recurrent breast cancer. After Bonferroni correction, stratification effects between valine and hormone receptors were still significant., Conclusion: Our study revealed that plasma metabolites were significantly different between recurrent and non-recurrent patients, proposing therapeutic insights for breast cancer prognosis., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Breast Cancer Society.)

Objective: Robotic surgery is increasingly utilized and common in general surgery training programs. This study sought to better understand the factors that influence resident operative autonomy in robotic surgery. We hypothesized that resident seniority, surgeon work experience, surgeon robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) case volume, and procedure type influence general surgery residents' opportunities for autonomy in RAS as measured by percentage of resident individual console time (ICT)., Methods: General surgery resident ICT data for robotic cholecystectomy (RC), inguinal hernia (RIH), and ventral hernia (RVH) operations performed on the dual-console Da Vinci surgical robotic system between July 2019 and June 2021 were extracted. Cases with postgraduate year (PGY) 2-5 residents participating as a console surgeon were included. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach was undertaken to explore the ICT results and we conducted secondary qualitative interviews with surgeons. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were applied., Results: Resident ICT data from 420 robotic cases (IH 200, RC 121, and VH 99) performed by 20 junior residents (PGY2-3), 18 senior residents (PGY4-5), and 9 attending surgeons were extracted. The average ICT per case was 26.8 % for junior residents and 42.4 % for senior residents. Compared to early-career surgeons, surgeons with over 10 years' work experience gave less ICT to junior (18.2 % vs. 32.0 %) and senior residents (33.9 % vs. 56.6 %) respectively. Surgeons' RAS case volume had no correlation with resident ICT (r = 0.003, p = 0.0003). On average, residents had the most ICT in RC (45.8 %), followed by RIH (36.7 %) and RVH (28.6 %). Interviews with surgeons revealed two potential reasons for these resident ICT patterns: 1) Surgeon assessment of resident training year/experience influenced decisions to grant ICT; 2) Surgeons' perceived operative time pressure inversely affected resident ICT., Conclusions: This study suggests resident ICT/autonomy in RC, RIH, and RVH are influenced by resident seniority level, surgeon work experience, and procedure type, but not related to surgeon RAS case volume. Design and implementation of an effective robotic training program must consider the external pressures at conflict with increased resident operative autonomy and seek to mitigate them., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Theresa Wang reports equipment, drugs, or supplies was provided by Intuitive Foundation. Michael P. Meara reports a relationship with Intuitive Surgical Inc that includes: consulting or advisory., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Asthma has been identified as different phenotypes due to various risk factors. Age differences may have potential effects on asthma phenotypes. Our study aimed to identify potential asthma phenotypes among adults divided by age as either younger or older than 65 years. We also compared differences in blood granulocyte patterns, occupational asthmagens, and asthma control-related outcomes among patient phenotype clusters., Methods: We recruited nonelderly (<65 years old) (n = 726) and elderly adults (≥65 years old) (n = 201) with mild-to-severe asthma. We conducted a factor analysis to select 17 variables. A two-step cluster analysis was used to classify subjects with asthma phenotypes, and a discriminant analysis was used to verify the classification of cluster results., Results: There were three clusters with different characteristics identified in both the nonelderly and elderly asthmatic adults. In the nonelderly patient group, cluster 2 (obese, neutrophilic phenotypes) had a 1.85-fold significantly increased risk of asthma exacerbations. Cluster 3 (early-onset, atopy, and smoker with an eosinophil-predominant pattern) had a 2.37-fold risk of asthma exacerbations and higher oral corticosteroid (OCS) use than cluster 1 (late-onset and LMW exposure with paucigranulocytic blood pattern). Among elderly patients, cluster 2 had poor lung function and more ex-smokers. Cluster 3 (early-onset, long asthma duration) had the lowest paucigranulocytic blood pattern percentages in the elderly group., Conclusions: The novelty of the clusters was found in age-dependent clusters. We identified three distinct phenotypes with heterogeneous characteristics, asthma exacerbations and medicine use in nonelderly and elderly asthmatic patients, respectively. Classification of age-stratified asthma phenotypes may lead to precise identification of patients, which provides personalized disease management., (Copyright © 2024 Japanese Society of Allergology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. The associations between the lipid profile and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting glucose, and diabetes remain unclear, so we aimed to perform a cohort study and a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to investigate the causality between blood lipid profile and HbA1c, fasting glucose, and diabetes., Methods: A total of 25,171 participants from the Taiwan Biobank were enrolled. We applied a cohort study and an MR study to assess the association between blood lipid profile and HbA1c, fasting glucose, and diabetes. The summary statistics were obtained from the Asian Genetic Epidemiology Network (AGEN), and the estimates between the instrumental variables (IVs) and outcomes were calculated using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method. A series of sensitivity analyses were performed., Results: In the cohort study, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was negatively associated with HbA1c, fasting glucose, and diabetes, while the causal associations between HDL-C and HbA1c (β IVW  = - 0.098, p = 0.003) and diabetes (β IVW  = - 0.594, p < 0.001) were also observed. Furthermore, there was no pleiotropy effect in this study using the MR-Egger intercept test and MR-PRESSO global test., Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that a genetically determined increase in HDL-C is causally related to a reduction in HbA1c and a lower risk of diabetes., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE).)

Background: Children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP) are encouraged to participate in the regular school curriculum. However, even when using the less-affected hand for handwriting, children with UCP still experience handwriting difficulties. Visual-motor integration (VMI) is a predictor of handwriting quality. Investigating VMI in children with UCP is important but still lacking. Conventional paper-based VMI assessments is subjective and use all-or-nothing scoring procedures, which may compromise the fidelity of VMI assessments. Moreover, identifying important shapes that are predictive of VMI performance might benefit clinical decision-making because different geometric shapes represent different developmental stepping stones of VMI. Therefore, a new computer-aided measure of VMI (the CAM-VMI) was developed to investigate VMI performance in children with UCP and to identify shapes important for predicting their VMI performance., Methods: Twenty-eight children with UCP and 28 typically-developing (TD) children were recruited. All participants were instructed to complete the CAM-VMI and Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery-VMI). The test items of the CAM-VMI consisted of nine simple geometric shapes related to writing readiness. Two scores of the CAM-VMI, namely, Error and Effort, were obtained by image registration technique. The performances on the Beery-VMI and the CAM-VMI of children with UCP and TD children were compared by independent t-test. A series of stepwise regression analyses were used to identify shapes important for predicting VMI performance in children with UCP., Results: Significant group differences were found in both the CAM-VMI and the Beery-VMI results. Furthermore, Error was identified as a significant aspect for predicting VMI performance in children with UCP. Specifically, the square item was the only significant predictor of VMI performance in children with UCP., Conclusions: This study was a large-scale study that provided direct evidence of impaired VMI in school-aged children with UCP. Even when using the less-affected hand, children with UCP could not copy the geometric shapes as well as TD children did. The copied products of children with UCP demonstrated poor constructional accuracy and inappropriate alignment. Furthermore, the predictive model suggested that the constructional accuracy of a copied square is an important predictor of VMI performance in children with UCP., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Two-thirds of surgeons report work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD). There is limited data on WRMD symptoms experienced by pregnant surgeons., Methods: We distributed an electronic survey via personal contacts to attending and trainee surgeons across six academic institutions to assess the impact of procedural activities and surgical ergonomics (SE) on WRMD symptoms during pregnancy., Results: Fifty-three respondents were currently or had been pregnant while clinically active, representing 93 total pregnancies. 94.7% reported that symptoms were exacerbated by workplace activities during pregnancy and 13.2% took unplanned time off work as a result. Beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy, 89.2% of respondents continued to operate/perform procedures, 81.7% worked >24-h shifts and 69.9% performed repetitive lifting >50 pounds. No respondents were aware of any institutional pregnancy-specific SE policies., Conclusions: Procedural activities can exacerbate pain symptoms for the pregnant surgeon. SE best practices during pregnancy warrant further attention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The enclosed manuscript and figures represent original work by the authors. All authors have made a substantial contribution to this work and have read and approved the final manuscript. No direct or indirect commercial or financial incentive is associated with the subject matter or material discussed in this manuscript. The manuscript or portions thereof are not under consideration by any other journal and have not been previously published. The findings and conclusions in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the represented institutions. The authors undersigned hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership to the journal for reviewing and editing our manuscript submission if our work is published in your journal., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Pre-operative evaluation of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) includes assessment of esophageal motility. High-resolution manometry (HRM) is the gold standard; endoscopic impedance planimetry (IP) with Endoflip 2.0 is increasingly utilized in esophageal disorders of motility. We hypothesized that normal IP motility would correlate with normal HRM motility and tested this in a prospective cohort study., Methods: Patients presenting for surgical evaluation of GERD between 9/2020 and 10/2021 were prospectively enrolled under an IRB-approved protocol. Patients with prior esophageal/gastric surgery, known motility disorders, or large paraesophageal hernias were excluded. All underwent HRM and IP, with normal motility defined by Chicago 3.0 classification for HRM and the presence of repetitive antegrade contractions for IP. Logistic regression and t test were used to analyze the data; p value < 0.05 was considered significant., Results: Of 63 patients enrolled, 48 completed both IP and HRM testing. The cohort was 50% male with a median age of 52.5 [42.0, 66.0] years, mostly ASA class 1-2 (75.1%, n = 36) and had an average BMI of 31.4 ± 6.3 kg/m 2 . Normal motility tracings were in 62.5% of IP and 75% of HRM tests. Using HRM as the gold standard, IP detected normal motility with a sensitivity of 65.8% and a specificity of 50% (positive predictive value 83.3%, negative predictive value 27.8%). Normal IP was not statistically significant in predicting normal HRM (OR 3.182, 95% CI 0.826-12.262, p = 0.0926). Tolerability of IP was significantly better than HRM with lower rates of discomfort (10.9% vs. 93.4%, p < 0.0001) and higher willingness to repeat testing (100% vs. 47.8%, p < 0.0001)., Conclusion: Esophageal motility testing with Endoflip 2.0 is well tolerated by patients. The low specificity (50%), poor negative predictive value (27.8%), and lack of statistically significant concordance between IP and HRM raises concern for the reliability of this test as a stand-alone replacement for HRM in the pre-operative evaluation for GERD., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Fundamentals of endoscopic surgery (FES) completion is mandatory for certification by the American Board of Surgery (ABS). As early simulation and competency assessment can bolster development of trainee proficiency, we sought to determine the optimal timing for FES examination by evaluating pass rates based on training level and previous endoscopic experience., Methods: PGY2-5 residents at a university-based medical center who were novice to FES were assigned to complete FES training and testing. Training year, prior endoscopic experience, and FES exam scores were recorded with pre- and post-test surveys., Results: Most residents in the program (88%) were able to complete FES training and testing within a single academic year. Most required only a single faculty-led session (88%) to feel confident to take the exam, augmented by varying numbers of independent practice sessions (50% 1-2, 19% 3-5, 27% > 5). After training, most (84%) felt confident that they would pass the exam, and 93% did so on their first attempt. While higher written exam scores were noted in the PGY5 group, there were no other statistically significant differences in overall pass rates or technical exam scores based on PGY level (p = 0.24). A number of previously completed endoscopic cases did not correlate with exam scores (p = 0.24 written, p = 0.91 technical)., Conclusion: Fundamentals of endoscopic surgery (FES) certification can be successfully completed by junior level general surgery residents regardless of previous endoscopic experience. Moving this exam to earlier training years can benefit resident development and preparedness in the clinical setting without negatively impacting pass rates., (© 2023. The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.)

Introduction: Paraesophageal hernia repair (PEHR) is a safe and effective operation. Previous studies have described risk factors for poor peri-operative outcomes such as emergent operations or advanced patient age, and pre-operative frailty is a known risk factor in other major surgery. The goal of this retrospective cohort study was to determine if markers of frailty were predictive of poor peri-operative outcomes in elective paraesophageal hernia repair., Methods: Patients who underwent elective PEHR between 1/2011 and 6/2022 at a single university-based institution were identified. Patient demographics, modified frailty index (mFI), and post-operative outcomes were recorded. A composite peri-operative morbidity outcome indicating the incidence of any of the following: prolonged length of stay (≥ 3 days), increased discharge level of care, and 30-day complications or readmissions was utilized for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to analyze the data., Results: Of 547 patients who underwent elective PEHR, the mean age was 66.0 ± 12.3, and 77.1% (n = 422) were female. Median length of stay was 1 [IQR 1, 2]. ASA was 3-4 in 65.8% (n = 360) of patients. The composite outcome occurred in 32.4% (n = 177) of patients. On multivariate analysis, increasing age (OR 1.021, p = 0.02), high frailty (OR 2.02, p < 0.01), ASA 3-4 (OR 1.544, p = 0.05), and redo-PEHR (OR 1.72, p = 0.02) were each independently associated with the incidence of the composite outcome. On a regression of age for the composite outcome, a cutoff point of increased risk is identified at age 72 years old (OR 2.25, p < 0.01)., Conclusion: High frailty and age over 72 years old each independently confer double the odds of a composite morbidity outcome that includes prolonged post-operative stay, peri-operative complications, the need for a higher level of care after elective paraesophageal hernia repair, and 30-day readmission. This provides additional information to counsel patients pre-operatively, as well as a potential opportunity for targeted pre-habilitation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Increasing health-care costs in the United States have not translated to superior outcomes in comparison to other developed countries. The implementation of physician-targeted interventions to reduce costs may improve value-driven health outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of physician-targeted interventions to reduce surgical expenses and improve care for patients undergoing total thyroidectomies., Methods: Two separate face-to-face interventions with individual surgeons focusing on surgical expenses associated with thyroidectomy were implemented in two surgical services (endocrine surgery and otolaryngology) by the surgical chair of each service in Jun 2016. The preintervention period was from Dec 2014 to Jun 2016 (19 mo, 352 operations). The postintervention period was from July 2016 to January 2018 (19 mo, 360 operations). Descriptive statistics were utilized, and differences-in-differences were conducted to compare the pre and postintervention outcomes including cost metrics (total costs, fixed costs, and variable costs per thyroidectomy) and clinical outcomes (30-d readmission rate, days to readmission, and total length of stay)., Results: Patient demographics and characteristics were comparable across pre- and post-intervention periods. Post-intervention, both costs and clinical outcomes demonstrated improvement or stability. Compared to otolaryngology, endocrine surgery achieved additional savings per surgery post-intervention: mean total costs by $607.84 (SD: 9.76; P < 0.0001), mean fixed costs by $220.21 (SD: 5.64; P < 0.0001), and mean variable costs by $387.82 (SD: 4.75; P < 0.0001)., Conclusions: Physician-targeted interventions can be an effective tool for reducing cost and improving health outcomes. The effectiveness of interventions may differ based on specialty training. Future implementations should standardize these interventions for a critical evaluation of their impact on hospital costs and patient outcomes., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) visits and readmissions following benign foregut surgery (BFS) represent a burden on patients and the health care system. The objective of this study was to identify differences in ED visits and readmissions before and after implementation of an early postoperative telehealth visit protocol for BFS. We hypothesized that utilization of telehealth visits would be associated with reduced post-operative ED and hospital utilization., Methods: An early postoperative telehealth protocol was initiated in 2020 at an academic medical center to provide a video conference within the first postoperative week. Consecutive elective BFS including fundoplication, Linx, paraesophageal hernia repair, and Heller myotomy performed between 2018 and 2022 were included. Outcomes included ED visits and 30-day readmission. Bivariate analyses were performed using Chi-squared testing for categorical variables. The association between telehealth visits and outcomes were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression., Results: 616 patients underwent BFS during the study period. 310 (50.3%) were performed prior to the implementation of telehealth visits and 306 (49.7%) were after. 241 patients in the telehealth visit group (78.8%) completed their telehealth visit. A total of 34 patients (5.5%) had ED visits without readmission while 38 patients (6.2%) were readmitted within the first 30 days. The most common cause of ED visits and readmissions included pain (n = 18, 25%) and nausea/vomiting (n = 12, 16%). There was a significant reduction in ED visits without admission following telehealth visit implementation (7.4% vs 3.6%; OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.04-4.65, p = 0.04). There was no difference in readmission rates (6.1% versus 6.5%; OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.46-1.73, p = 0.73). The telehealth cohort had significantly lower ED visits for pain (31% vs 16.7%, p = 0.04) and nausea/vomiting (23.8% vs 6.7%, p = 0.02)., Discussion: Early telehealth follow-up was associated with a significant decrease in ED visits following BFS. The majority of this was attributable to a reduction in ED visits for pain, nausea, and vomiting. These results provide a possible avenue for improving quality and cost-effectiveness within this patient population., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Robotic-assisted surgery is an increasing part of general surgery training, but resident autonomy on the robotic platform can be hard to quantify. Robotic console time (RCT), the percentage of time the resident controls the console, may be an appropriate measure of resident operative autonomy. This study aims to characterize the correlation between objective resident RCT and subjectively scored operative autonomy., Methods: Using a validated resident performance evaluation instrument, we collected resident operative autonomy ratings from residents and attendings performing robotic cholecystectomy (RC) and robotic inguinal hernia repair (IH) at a university-based general surgery program between 9/2020-6/2021. We then extracted RCT data from the Intuitive surgical system. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and ANOVA were performed., Results: A total of 31 robotic operations (13 RC, 18 IH) performed by 4 attending surgeons and 8 residents (4 junior, 4 senior) were matched and included. 83.9% of cases were scored by both attending and resident. The average RCT per case was 35.6%(95% CI 13.0%,58.3%) for junior residents (PGY 2-3) and 59.7%(CI 51.1%,68.3%) for senior residents (PGY 4-5). The mean autonomy evaluated by residents was 3.29(CI 2.85,3.73) out of a maximum score of 5, while the mean autonomy evaluated by attendings was 4.12(CI 3.68,4.55). RCT significantly correlated with subjective evaluations of resident autonomy (r=0.61, p=0.0003). RCT also moderately correlated with resident training level (r=0.5306, p<0.0001). Neither attending robotic experience nor operation type significantly correlated with RCT or autonomy evaluation scores., Conclusions: Our study suggests that resident console time is a valid surrogate for resident operative autonomy in robotic cholecystectomy and inguinal hernia repair. RCT may be a valuable measure in objective assessment of residents' operative autonomy and training efficiency. Future investigation into how RCT correlates with subjective and objective autonomy metrics such as verbal guidance or distinguishing critical operative steps is needed to validate the study findings further., (Copyright © 2023 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Although the incidence of invasive breast cancer (BC) among women in Asian is generally lower than that in Western countries, the incidence of BC has been on the rise in the past three decades in Asian countries. This hospital-based case-control study aimed to explore the relationship between dietary and metabolic factors and BC risk in pre- and post-menopausal women. We enrolled 285 patients with newly diagnosed BC at the National Taiwan University Hospital and 297 controls from the local community and hospital staff. Before receiving anticancer therapy, all patients with BC and control participants completed a 57-question semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire. For pre-menopausal women, plant-based factor scores rich in seeds and nuts, soy, fruits, and seaweeds correlated significantly with reduced BC risks, whereas menarche occurring at <12 years of age, reduced physical activity, and high-density lipoprotein <40 mg/dL were associated with increased BC risks. For post-menopausal women, plant-based dietary factor scores were also associated with reduced risks, whereas increased body mass index and energy intake levels correlated with increased BC risks. Diets rich in plant-based dietary patterns are protective against BC risk, regardless of menopausal status. Habitual physical activity is protective against BC risk among pre-menopausal Taiwanese women. Maintaining optimal weight and caloric intake is beneficial for reducing post-menopausal BC risk.

Background: Patients are often advised on smoking cessation prior to elective surgical interventions, but the impact of active smoking on paraesophageal hernia repair (PEHR) outcomes is unclear. The objective of this cohort study was to evaluate the impact of active smoking on short-term outcomes following PEHR., Methods: Patients who underwent elective PEHR at an academic institution between 2011 and 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database from 2010 to 2021 was queried for PEHR. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and 30-day post-operative data were collected and maintained in an IRB-approved database. Cohorts were stratified by active smoking status. Primary outcomes included rates of death or serious morbidity (DSM) and radiographically identified recurrence. Bivariate and multivariable regressions were performed, and p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: 538 patients underwent elective PEHR in the single-institution cohort, of whom 5.8% (n = 31) were smokers. 77.7% (n = 394) were female, median age was 67 [IQR 59, 74] years, and median follow-up was 25.3 [IQR 3.2, 53.6] months. Rates of DSM (non-smoker 4.5% vs smoker 6.5%, p = 0.62) and hernia recurrence (33.3% vs 48.4%, p = 0.09) did not differ significantly. On multivariable analysis, smoking status was not associated with any outcome (p > 0.2). On NSQIP analysis, 38,284 PEHRs were identified, of whom 8.6% (n = 3584) were smokers. Increased DSM was observed among smokers (non-smoker 5.1%, smoker 6.2%, p = 0.004). Smoking status was independently associated with increased risk of DSM (OR 1.36, p < 0.001), respiratory complications (OR 1.94, p < 0.001), 30-day readmission (OR 1.21, p = 0.01), and discharge to higher level of care (OR 1.59, p = 0.01). No difference was seen in 30-day mortality or wound complications., Conclusion: Smoking status confers a small increased risk of short-term morbidity following elective PEHR without increased risk of mortality or hernia recurrence. While smoking cessation should be encouraged for all active smokers, minimally invasive PEHR in symptomatic patients should not be delayed on account of patient smoking status., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The effect of ambient PM 10 and PM 2.5 on lung function modified by body muscle and adipose tissue is not fully understood at present. Our aims were to investigate the association between seasonal average air pollutants and lung function in asthmatic patients modified by body composition indicators. In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 914 doctor-diagnosed asthmatic patients, and performed interaction and stratified analysis using the median values of total body muscle (TBM), total body fat (TBF), and percentage body fat (PBF) as well as body mass index (BMI) =25 as the cutoff points of the high/low body composition groups. The adjusted R 2 values of the developed LUR models of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 91.4% and 90.5% and also verified by cross-validation, respectively. After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that TBM significantly modified the association between PM 10 and lung function among asthma patients (interaction P value <0.05). In the low TBM group, seasonal average concentrations of PM 10 estimated by the LUR model increased by 10 μg/m 3 , and negative associations with lung function indicators were observed. For obese patients with BMI>25 and high TBF, the increase in PM 10 was associated with the decrease in lung function. The asthma patients with obesity and low total body muscle were more susceptible to adverse effects of PM 10 on lung function., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Importance: Impaired tactile perception frequently accompanies motor deficits in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Assessing tactile perception precisely for children with CP remains challenging because of a lack of assessments with robust psychometric evidence or standard procedures., Objective: To develop a standardized assessment tool, the Tactile Perceptual Test (TPT), for measuring tactile perception in children with CP and to examine its psychometric properties., Design: Observational study design., Setting: University research laboratory and medical center., Participants: Children with CP (n = 100) and typical development (TD; n = 50)., Outcomes and Measures: The TPT includes four subtests measuring stereognosis, roughness, hardness, and heaviness. Three comparator instruments, Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments, Two-Point Discrimination, and the stereognosis subtest of the Revised Nottingham Sensory Assessment, were used for convergent validity., Results: Good test-retest reliability was confirmed for all of the TPT subtests. The values of minimal detectable change were acceptable. Moderate correlations between the TPT and comparator instruments were found, as expected. For known-groups validity, the significant difference was confirmed between children with CP and those with TD., Conclusions and Relevance: The TPT is a reliable and valid measure for multiple subdomains of tactile perception in children with CP. This tactile assessment may help clarify tactile performance to provide appropriate, precise interventions. What This Article Adds: The TPT measures tactile perception in children with CP. It has four subdomains of tactile perception that could facilitate prioritization of tactile treatment of specific subdomains and thereby aid in the provision of appropriate interventions., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Importance: Emerging research has demonstrated that constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) and bimanual intensive training (BIT) show promising effectiveness for children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). Considering that neurorehabilitative programs have always been designed with long training periods, psychosocial outcomes have received scarce attention and thus have not been investigated sufficiently., Objective: To compare the efficacy of CIMT and BIT with 36-hr interventional dosages for both motor and psychosocial outcomes., Design: Randomized trial., Setting: Community., Participants: Forty-eight children with UCP, ages 6 to 12 yr., Intervention: Both CIMT and BIT delivered via individual intervention for 2.25 hr/day, twice a week, for 8 wk., Outcomes and Measures: The Melbourne Assessment 2, Pediatric Motor Activity Log-Revised, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, ABILHAND-Kids measure, and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form were administrated at pretreatment, midterm, posttreatment, and 6 mo after intervention. An engagement questionnaire for investigating the child's engagement in the intervention was used to collect the perspectives of the children and the parents weekly., Results: Children with UCP who received either CIMT or BIT achieved similar motor improvements. The only difference was that CIMT yielded larger improvements in frequency and quality of use of the more affected hand at the 6-mo follow-up. Similar child engagement and parental stress levels were found in the two groups., Conclusions and Relevance: This study comprehensively compared the efficacy of motor and psychosocial outcomes for 36-hr dosages of CIMT and BIT. The promising findings support the clinical efficacy and feasibility of the proposed protocols. What This Article Adds: The core therapeutic principle of CIMT (i.e., remind the child to use the more affected hand) may be more easily duplicated by parents. Parents may have overestimated their child's engagement and given relatively higher scores; therefore, occupational therapists should also consider the opinions of the children themselves., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) have received increasing attention from industrial practitioners, researchers, and policymakers because of industry 4.0 and the digitization of the maritime industry. Crucial questions related to security, safety of personnel and vessels, and socio-economic domains have been addressed to a certain extent. In recent years, China has arisen as one of the leading maritime players worldwide, and unmanned vessels could remarkably influence the Chinese maritime industry. However, there is still a lack of systematic studies aiming to develop a deep understanding of potential advantages and challenges associated with the deployment of unmanned vessels in China. Therefore, using a mixed-method research design, this study attempts to obtain valuable insights based on the viewpoints of the key Chinese stakeholders concerning unmanned vessels, including the benefits, the restrictions, the obstacles to large-scale implementation, the risks, and how to mitigate possible implementation barriers. The main advantage of deploying unmanned ships was found to be the reduction in the ship crew size or complete elimination of the ship crew, which would reduce the operating costs and eliminate human errors on board the ships. Nevertheless, along with important advantages, a number of challenges associated with the development and deployment of unmanned ships were identified, including technological challenges, regulatory challenges, safety and security challenges, and technology investment challenges. All these challenges have to be adequately addressed by the relevant stakeholders to ensure the successful deployment of unmanned ships around the globe in the following years., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Introduction: Drain fluid amylase (DFA) levels have been used to predict clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) and guide postoperative drain management. Optimal DFA cutoff thresholds vary between studies, thereby prompting investigation of an alternative assessment technique. As DFA measurements could, in theory, be distorted by variations in ascites fluid production, we hypothesized that adjusting DFA for volume corrected drain fluid amylase (vDFA) would improve CR-POPF predictive models., Methods: A single-institution retrospective cohort study of patients, who underwent pancreatoduodenectomies (PD) and distal pancreatectomies (DP) between 2013 and 2019, was performed. DFAs and vDFAs were measured on postoperative day (POD) 3. Clinicopathologic variables were compared between cohorts by univariable and multivariable analyses and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves., Results: Patients developing a CR-POPF were more likely to be male and have elevated DFA, vDFA, and body mass index (BMI). vDFA use did not contribute to a superior CR-POPF predictive model compared to DFA-a finding consistent on subanalysis of surgery type PD versus DP. In CR-POPF predictive models, DFA, vDFA, and male sex significantly improved CR-POPF predictive models when considering both surgery subtypes, while only DFA and vDFA significantly improved models when cohorts were segregated by surgery type., Conclusions: Postoperative DFA remains a preferred method of predicting CR-POPF as the proposed vDFA assessment technique only adds complexity without increased discriminability., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Despite aggressive surgical care and systemic therapy, patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have a poor prognosis. Recent studies show that racial disparities in outcome also exist. We sought to investigate the association lymph node (LN) metastases had with survival between Black and White patients with PDAC after resection., Methods: Retrospective analysis of 226 PDAC patients who underwent resection at a single institution from 2010 to 2018 was performed with attention to LN metastasis and patient race. The number of patients who received chemotherapy was also evaluated., Results: One Hundred Seventy Five (77.4%) PDAC patients were White and 51 (22.6%) were Black. 130 (59.3%) patients had LN metastasis (LN+). LN+ and LN- groups were similar in race (P = 0.93), sex (P = 0.10) and age at the time of diagnosis (P = 0.45). Patients with LN + disease were more likely to present with larger tumors (3.4 versus 2.8 cm, P = 0.02) and higher T status (P = 0.001). White and Black patients had similar rates of LN metastasis (59% versus 58.8%, P = 1.0). The median survival for LN- Black and White patients were similar (43.2 versus 30.2 mo, P = 0.82). LN + Black patients trended towards receiving more systemic therapy than White LN + patients (55% versus 42%, P = 0.10). The median survival for LN + Black patients was significantly less than LN + White patients (17.5 versus 24.6 mo, P = 0.04)., Conclusions: Black LN + PDAC patients have an inferior survival rate after resection when compared to their White counterparts. Our disparity in outcome cannot be solely explained by a difference in systemic treatment. Further investigation is warranted to determine racial differences in tumor biology or response to chemotherapy., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Previous studies have compared the effectiveness of constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) by different training doses. However, whether the dosing schedule, that is, intensive or distributed, influences the effectiveness of CIMT in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) is unknown., Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of intensive and distributed CIMT for children with unilateral CP., Methods: Fifty children with unilateral CP were assigned to intensive or distributed CIMT group with a total of 36 training hours. The intensive CIMT was delivered within 1 week, and the distributed CIMT was delivered twice a week for 8 weeks. The outcomes were the Melbourne Assessment 2, Box and Block Test, Pediatric Motor Activity Log-Revised (PMAL-R), Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency 2, ABILHAND-Kids and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The intensive group was assessed at the initiation of treatment (week 0), at the end of 1 week treatment (week 1), and 8 weeks after the initiation of treatment (week 8). The distributed group was assessed at week 0 and week 8., Results: The within-group analyses demonstrated significant differences on all motor outcomes. There were no significant between-group differences at post-treatment, while the intensive CIMT demonstrated larger improvements than the distributed CIMT did on quality of use of the more-affected hand, as rated by parents on the PMAL-R at week 8., Conclusions: The 2 dosing schedules of CIMT had similar effectiveness for children with unilateral CP. The intensive CIMT yielded additional improvement on parent rated motor quality of the more-affected hand at 8 weeks after the initiation of treatment., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03128385).

Plasticizers/phthalates play a facilitating role in the development of cancer and help the tumor to grow and metastasize. Camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives are known to have anticancer properties of inhibiting cell growth, promoting cell apoptosis, and increasing autophagy. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether the presence of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) could hinder apoptosis and autophagy caused by CPT in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. We found that DEHP interferes with CPT-induced apoptosis and autophagy and increases the prosurvival pathway by reducing the DNA damage marker γ-H2AX and activating the Akt and NF-κB pathways. Furthermore, we also confirmed that combining DEHP with 3-MA has additive effects in inhibiting autophagy and apoptosis in NSCLC cells. Taken together, our findings show that DEHP could affect CPT-induced anticancer treatment and provide evidence to show that DEHP induces chemoresistance in CPT-based chemotherapy., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a prominent neurorehabilitation approach for improving affected upper extremity motor function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). However, the restraint of the less-affected upper extremity and intensive training protocol during CIMT may decrease children's motivation and increase the therapist's workload and family's burden. A kinect-based CIMT program, aiming to mitigate the concerns of CIMT, has been developed. The preliminary results demonstrated that this program was child-friendly and feasible for improving upper extremity motor function. However, whether the kinect-based CIMT can achieve better or at least comparable effects to that of traditional CIMT (i.e., therapist-based CIMT) should be further investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of kinect-based CIMT with that of therapist-based CIMT on upper extremity and trunk motor control and on daily motor function in children with UCP., Methods: Twenty-nine children with UCP were recruited and randomly allocated to kinect-based CIMT (n = 14) or therapist-based CIMT (n = 15). The intervention dosage was 2.25 h a day, 2 days a week for 8 weeks. Outcome measures, namely upper extremity and trunk motor control and daily motor function, were evaluated before and after 36-h interventions. Upper extremity and trunk motor control were assessed with unimanual reach-to-grasp kinematics, and daily motor function was evaluated with the Revised Pediatric Motor Activity Log. Between-group comparisons of effectiveness on all outcome measures were analyzed by analysis of covariance (α = 0.05)., Results: The two groups demonstrated similar improvements in upper extremity motor control and daily motor function. In addition, the kinect-based CIMT group demonstrated greater improvements in trunk motor control than the therapist-based CIMT group did (F(1,28) > 4.862, p < 0.036)., Conclusion: Kinect-based CIMT has effects comparable to that of therapist-based CIMT on UE motor control and daily motor function. Moreover, kinect-based CIMT helps decrease trunk compensation during reaching in children with UCP. Therefore, kinect-based CIMT can be used as an alternative approach to therapist-based CIMT., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02808195. Registered on 2016/06/21, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02808195 ., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Importance: Handwriting legibility is the main criterion for determining whether a child has handwriting difficulties. A comprehensive assessment of handwriting legibility with sound psychometrics is essential to timely identification of handwriting difficulties and outcome measurement after handwriting interventions., Objective: To evaluate the psychometrics of the Computer-Aided Measure of Chinese Handwriting Legibility (CAM-CHL) and to investigate Chinese handwriting legibility in school-age children using the CAM-CHL., Design: Cross-sectional, repeated observation, test-retest., Setting: Elementary schools in Taiwan., Participants: We recruited 25 lower-grade children for the examination of test-retest reliability, 75 children from all grade levels, and 10 senior schoolteachers for the examination of the CAM-CHL's convergent validity and the investigation of handwriting legibility., Outcomes and Measures: Children were asked to copy a set of Chinese characters as legibly as possible. We used the CAM-CHL to assess handwriting legibility in four domains: Size, Orientation, Position, and Deformation. The schoolteachers were asked to subjectively assess the handwriting legibility using a 3-point Likert-type scale., Results: The CAM-CHL demonstrated good to excellent test-retest reliability and acceptable random measurement error in all legibility domains. The CAM-CHL had fair to moderate convergent validity with schoolteachers' perceptions. Additionally, upper-grade children had better handwriting legibility in the Size and Position domains than lower-grade children., Conclusions and Relevance: The CAM-CHL, a comprehensive and objective method of assessing Chinese handwriting legibility, has sound reliability and acceptable validity, suggesting its potential as an outcome measure for school-age children. What This Article Adds: The CAM-CHL can be used in comprehensive evaluations of Chinese handwriting legibility in school-age children. The CAM-CHL has acceptable psychometrics for use as an outcome measure., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Shangjuxu" (ST 37) on mental state, visceral sensitivity and protein expression of nerve growth factor (NGF), tyrosine kinase receptor A (TrkA) and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) of colonic tissue in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) rats, and to explore its possible mechanism on treating IBS-D., Methods: A total of 36 male SD rats of SPF grade were randomized into a blank group, a model group, an EA group and a western medication group, 9 rats in each group. In the model group, the EA group and the western medication group, IBS-D model was established by enema of dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS) combined with chronic restraint stress method. In the EA group, EA was applied at "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Shangjuxu" (ST 37), with disperse-dense wave, in frequency of 2 Hz/100 Hz, 20 min each time, once a day for 7 days. In the western medication group, pinaverium bromide suspension was given by gavage (15 mg•kg -1 •d -1 ) for 7 days. Before and after model establishment, and after intervention, the body mass, 24 h food intake and fecal water content were observed, the visceral sensitivity was detected by abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR); after intervention, the mental state was evaluated by elevated plus maze (EPM) test, the protein expression of NGF, TrkA and TRPV1 was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot in the 4 groups., Results: After model establishment, compared with the blank group, the body mass and 24 h food intake were decreased ( P <0.05), first systolic latency of AWR was shortened and number of contraction wave of AWR was increased ( P <0.05), and fecal water content was increased ( P <0.05) in the model group, the EA group and the western medication group. After intervention, compared with the blank group, open arm residence time ratio (OT%) of EPM was decreased ( P <0.05) and protein expression of NGF, TrkA, TRPV1 in colonic tissue was increased in the model group ( P <0.05); compared with the model group, the body mass and 24 h food intake were increased ( P <0.05), first systolic latency of AWR was lengthened and number of contraction wave of AWR was decreased ( P <0.05), the fecal water content was decreased ( P <0.05), OT% of EPM was increased ( P <0.05), and protein expression of NGF, TrkA, TRPV1 in colonic tissue was decreased ( P <0.05) in the EA group and the western medication group., Conclusion: Electroacupuncture at "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Shangjuxu" (ST 37) can relieve the anxiety and depression-like behaviors in IBS-D rats, down-regulate the protein expression of NGF, TrkA, TRPV1 in colonic tissue, so as to reduce the visceral sensitivity and relieve symptoms.

Differentiated thyroid carcinomas is associated with an excellent prognosis. The treatment of choice for differentiated thyroid carcinoma is surgery, followed by radioactive iodine ablation (iodine-131) in select patients and thyroxine therapy in most patients. Surgery is also the main treatment for medullary thyroid carcinoma, and kinase inhibitors may be appropriate for select patients with recurrent or persistent disease that is not resectable. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is almost uniformly lethal, and iodine-131 imaging and radioactive iodine cannot be used. When systemic therapy is indicated, targeted therapy options are preferred. This article describes NCCN recommendations regarding management of medullary thyroid carcinoma and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, and surgical management of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (papillary, follicular, Hürthle cell carcinoma).

Background: Fistula Risk Score (FRS) models often lack adequate discrimination for clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) on external validation. We tested four FRS models in the Deep South United States and sought to determine if CR-POPF discrimination was affected by racial disparities., Methods: A single-institution retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomies between 2013 and 2019 was performed. FRS discrimination for CR-POPF was assessed using ROC curves for both the entire patient population, and for Black vs White patients., Results: The Alternative FRS maintains adequate CR-POPF discrimination when considering the patient population as a whole, but inadequately predicts CR-POPF when applied to the Black patient population. The Sun-FRS provides adequate CR-POPF discrimination for Black patients when considering risk grade. Only soft pancreatic gland texture and small duct size were significantly associated with CR-POPF in this patient population., Discussion: Institutions should assess their preferred FRS model to determine if it provides adequate CR-POPF discrimination among a racially diverse patient population. Further studies are needed to determine how racial disparities influence CR-POPF prediction to better guide postoperative management., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: As healthcare systems are adapting due to COVID-19, there has been an increased need for telehealth in the outpatient setting. Not all patients have been comfortable with this transition. We sought to determine the relationship between health literacy and technological comfort in our cancer patients., Methods: We conducted a survey of patients that presented to the oncology clinics at a single-center over a 2-month period. Patients were given a voluntary, anonymous, survey during their visit containing questions regarding demographics, health literacy and technological comfort., Results: 344 surveys were returned (response-rate 64.3%). The median patient age was 61 years, 70% of responders were female and the most common race was White (67.3%). Increasing patient age, male gender, Black and Native-American race, decreased health literacy and lack of home broadband were associated with lower technological comfort score., Conclusion: In our cohort, patients with lower health literacy scores, older and male patients, or who have poor internet access showed a lower level of technological comfort. At risk patients can be identified and provided additional support in their use of telehealth services., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The trend of women suffering from early-onset breast cancer is increasing in Taiwan. The association of early-onset breast cancer with body mass index (BMI), menarche, and menopausal status has focused interest on the field of cancer epidemiology; however, few studies have explored the interaction of these factors on early-onset risk. This study aimed to estimate the interaction effects of BMI, menarche, and menopausal status on 40-year-old early-onset breast cancer., Methods: Breast cancer patients were recruited from Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital from 2013 to 2020. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for early-onset breast cancer risk associated with menarcheal age stratified by sociodemographic factors and for the interaction between BMI and menopausal status on early-onset risk., Results: A total of 775 participants were divided into 131 early-onset cases (≤ 40 years) and 644 late-onset cases (> 40 years). Compared to the age of 13 years at menarche, the age ≤ 11 years was significantly positively associated (OR: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.38-4.97) and ≥ 16 years was negatively associated (OR: 0.13, 95% CI: 0.03-0.53) with 40-year-old early-onset breast cancer respectively. In an adjusted model, the status of BMI < 24 and premenopause had 1.76- and 4.59-fold risk of early-onset breast cancer respectively. Especially in BMI < 24 status, premenopause also had a 6.47-fold early-onset risk and the early-onset risk increased by a significant amount per one year younger at menarche (aOR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.03-1.55). There was also a positive interaction effect on an additive scale between BMI and menopausal status on early-onset breast cancer (RERI OR  = 4.62, P interaction  = 0.057). Compared to both BMI ≥ 24 and peri-/postmenopausal status, both the status of BMI < 24 and premenopause were associated with early-onset breast cancer (aOR: 7.16, 95% CI: 3.87-13.25)., Conclusions: This study suggests that the status of BMI < 24 and premenopause were associated with an increased risk of early-onset breast cancer and there was a positive interaction on an additive scale. Understanding how obesity and menopausal status affect early-onset breast cancer is important for drafting preventive measures for early-onset breast cancer in Taiwan., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Studies have reported a strong link between asthma and panic disorder. We conducted a 17-year community-based large cohort study to examine the relationship between asthma, early smoking initiation, and panic disorder during adolescence and early adulthood., Methods: A total of 162,766 participants aged 11-16 years were categorized into asthma and nonasthma groups at baseline and compared within the observation period. Covariates during late childhood or adolescence included parental education, cigarette smoking by family members of participants, and participant's gender, age, alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise habits. Data for urbanicity, prednisone use, allergic comorbidity, and Charlson comorbidity index were acquired from the National Health Insurance Research Database. The Cox proportional-hazards model was used to evaluate the association between asthma and panic disorder., Results: Our findings revealed that asthma increased the risk of panic disorder after adjustment for key confounders in the Cox proportional hazard regression model (adjusted HR: 1.70, 95% CI 1.28-2.26). Hospitalizations or visits to the emergency department for asthma exhibited a dose-response effect on the panic disorder (adjusted HR: 2.07, 95% CI 1.30-3.29). Patients with asthma with onset before 20 years of age who smoked during late childhood or adolescence had the greatest risk for panic disorder (adjusted HR: 4.95, 95% CI 1.23-19.90)., Conclusions: Patients newly diagnosed with asthma had a 1.7-times higher risk of developing panic disorder. Smoking during late childhood or adolescence increased the risk for developing the panic disorder in patients with asthma., (© 2021. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The association between phthalate exposure and breast cancer remains controversial. We performed a prospective patient cohort design to explore the interaction between creatinine-corrected urinary phthalate metabolites and hormone receptors as well as body mass index (BMI) on recurrent breast cancer. In this follow-up study, 636 female breast cancer patients and 45 new recurrent cases diagnosed for a total of 1576.68 person-years of follow-up were recruited. Mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP) was negatively associated with breast cancer recurrence, with adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 3rd vs. 1st quartile of 0.15 (95% CI 0.04-0.51). The MEOHP presented as a non-monotonic dose-response (NMDR) curve, being U-shaped. In the stratification of hormone receptors, MEOHP still exhibited a U-shaped dose-response curve. The third quartile of MEOHP showed significant lowest recurrent risk in the status of ER-positive (aHR 0.18, 95% CI 0.05-0.66), PR-negative (aHR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03-0.63), and HER2-negative (aHR 0.24, 95% CI 0.08-0.76). Whether in BMI < 25 or in BMI ≥ 25, the third quartile of MEOHP was negatively associated with recurrent breast cancer, and there was a negative interaction on an additive scale between MEOHP and BMI (p interaction  = 0.042). The association between MEOHP and recurrent breast cancer was modified by hormone receptors and BMI., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Gallbladder duplication can present a diagnostic challenge, particularly in patients who have had prior cholecystectomy with a missed duplicated gallbladder., Case Presentation: Presented is the case of a man with 16 years of recurrent, persistent right upper quadrant pain after cholecystectomy who was found to have a duplicated gallbladder., Conclusions: Gallbladder duplication can be difficult to diagnose and frequently evades preoperative visualization. In particular, patients who have had prior operations or infections that may lead to epigastric adhesions are at higher risk for a missed gallbladder duplication at time of operation. An intraoperative cholangiogram should be routinely performed when the inferior liver margin is poorly visualized due to scarring or patient habitus. Gallbladder anomalies should be considered in the differential preoperatively for all patients undergoing hepatobiliary procedures and for postoperative patients with persistent biliary symptoms., Competing Interests: Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest or outside sources of funding with regard to this article., (Copyright © 2022 Frontline Medical Communications Inc., Parsippany, NJ, USA.)

Objective: Although the provision of nutrition helps minimize adverse outcomes in most patients in intensive care units (ICUs), little is known about the relative effect of energy and protein delivered on mortality in ICU patients with different ranges of body mass index (BMI). The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between adequacy of dietary energy and protein intakes separately and simultaneously, and short-term mortality in medical ICU patients across four BMI categories., Methods: We enrolled 1693 patients admitted to a medical center ICU in Taiwan during the period of 2005 to 2011, subcategorizing them by BMI levels: <18.5(n = 418), 18.5-24.9 (n = 889), 25-29.9 (n = 289), and ≥30 kg/m 2 (n = 97). Dietary energy and protein intake (DEI and DPI) were defined by the percent of prescribed dosages that each patient actually received: highly adequate (>80%), moderately adequate (60-80%), and inadequate (<60%), during the first 10 d in the ICU., Results: Mean DEI was 1237 kcal/d and DPI 47 g protein/d. Analyzed separately in our multiple regression models, moderately and highly adequate DEI (P trends  = 0.003-0.026) and DPI (P trends  = 0.001-0.004) were both significantly correlated with reduced mortality in patients with BMI <18.5, 18.5-24.9, and 25-29.9 kg/m 2 but not in those with BMI levels ≥30 kg/m 2 . With DEI and DPI analyzed simultaneously, only APACHE II scores and DPI levels remained significantly related to reduced mortality in patients with BMI <30 kg/m 2 ., Conclusion: Although the adequacy of delivery of prescribed DEI or DPI dosages appeared to be important for reduced risks for mortality in ICU patients with BMI <30 kg/m 2 when analyzed separately, DPI had a stronger effect on decreases in ICU mortality when the two were analyzed simultaneously. Further investigation may be needed to study the role of increased protein in improving clinical outcomes., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)