Medicine
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The 17 Provincial Institutes of Health and Environment (PIHEs) in Korea use HIV antibody, antigen, and Western blot assays for confirmatory testing of HIV infection. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has further included p24 antigen neutralization and nucleic acid tests (NATs) since 2015. Our study aimed to investigate the effect of this new testing algorithm on the confirmation rate of HIV infection. ⋯ Of positive cases reported by the KDCA, 22.9% were in the early acute stage and Fiebig stages I to II. The new testing algorithm has improved the diagnosis of HIV infections in the early acute stage. Early confirmatory diagnosis can prevent secondary transmission of HIV and provide early treatment opportunities for people living with HIV infection.
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Early and accurate diagnosis of liver fibrosis is necessary for HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with normal or slightly increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Liver biopsy and many non-invasive predicting markers have several application restrictions in grass-roots hospitals. We aimed to construct a non-invasive model based on routinely serum markers to predict liver fibrosis for this population. A total of 363 CHB patients with HBeAg-positive, ALT ≤2-fold the upper limit of normal and liver biopsy data were randomly divided into training (n = 266) and validation groups (n = 97). ⋯ The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.89 for the training group and 0.86 for the validation group. Using 2 cut-off points of -2.61 and 0.25, 59% of patients could be identified with liver fibrosis and antiviral treatment decisions were made without liver biopsies, and 149 patients were recommended to undergo liver biopsy for accurate diagnosis. In this study, the non-invasive model could predict liver fibrosis and may reduce the need for liver biopsy in HBeAg-positive CHB patients with normal or slightly increased ALT.
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Sleep disorders after stroke is one of the most common neuropsychiatric complications and is associated with increased risk of death and poor functional outcomes. Some evidence shows that patients with sleep disorders after stroke benefit from exercise intervention. However, this result is still conflicting. This study aims to explore the effects of exercise on sleep disorders after stroke and to establish safe and effective exercise prescriptions. ⋯ INPLASY202130106.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of phosphatase of regenerating live-3 (PRL-3) in human stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) and to evaluate its correlation with metachronous liver metastasis (MLM) and prognosis. The retrospective cohort study included 116 stage III CRC primary tumors and 60 normal colorectal tissues. PRL-3 expression was measured by immunohistochemistry. ⋯ A multivariate analysis indicated that PRL-3 expression was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for OS (P = .007). Our study suggested that high PRL-3 expression is an independent risk factor for MLM and poor prognosis. PRL-3 is expected to be a promising biomarker for predicting the incidence of MLM and prognosis in patients with stage III CRC.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized phase II trial comparing capecitabine with oxaliplatin or docetaxel as first-line treatment in advanced gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas.
A combination of fluoropyrimidines and platinum is widely accepted as the standard first-line treatment for advanced gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas. However, the benefit compared with platinum-free chemotherapeutic regimens remains controversial. We compared the efficacy and safety of capecitabine with oxaliplatin or docetaxel, as first-line therapy in advanced gastric cancer. ⋯ The DX regimen was not superior to XELOX, but instead, similar. The platinum-containing regimen remains the preferred first-line option for advanced gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas, and DX might be considered as an alternative for patients unsuitable for platinum-containing chemotherapy.