Int J Med Sci
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Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) technology on rectus abdominis muscles (RAMs) in Asian individuals, hypothesizing that HIFEM is safe and effective for body contouring in this population and that volumetric assessment provides more accurate results than thickness measurements alone. Methods: In this prospective, single-center pilot study, six Asian participants (3 males, 3 females; mean age 45.5 years) underwent HIFEM training. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed before treatment and at 2- and 3-months post-treatment to assess RAM volume and thickness. ⋯ Conclusion: This pioneering study establishes the safety and effectiveness of HIFEM technology for RAM training in Asian individuals. The discrepancy between volume and thickness changes highlights the importance of volumetric assessment in evaluating muscle remodeling. While limited by small sample size and short follow-up, this research provides a foundation for further investigation of HIFEM technology in diverse populations and underscores its potential as a non-invasive approach in aesthetic medicine.
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Background: SARS-CoV-2 causes a global pandemic, with severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients often experiencing poor prognoses. Severe infection with SARS-CoV-2 is associated with oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation. Detecting markers of macromolecular damage caused by OS may provide valuable insights into disease progression. ⋯ OxLDL and OxLDL/LDL-C ratio demonstrated good discriminatory value between non-severe and severe/critically ill COVID-19, with the OxLDL/LDL-C ratio also distinguishing between severe and critically ill patients. Conclusion: Patients with severe and critically ill COVID-19 exhibit elevated levels of oxidative damage to lipoproteins. OxLDL and the OxLDL/LDL-C ratio can serve as biomarkers for assessing disease severity in COVID-19 patients.
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Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial tumor of the head and neck with heterogeneous racial and geographical distributions. Homeobox B2 (HOXB2) is a tumor promoter in many cancers. However, the biological role of HOXB2 in NPC has not been elucidated. ⋯ Thereafter, we transferred the FOXO1-OE plasmid to HOXB2-OE NPC cells and found that overexpression of FOXO1 reversed cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and radioresistance profiles promoted by HOXB2 overexpression. Conclusion: Our findings showed that HOXB2 acts as a tumor promoter in NPC, activating malignant behaviors and radioresistance of tumors via FOXO1 regulation. Moreover, the inactivation of HOXB2 or activation of FOXO1 are potential strategies to inhibit tumor progression and overcome radioresistance in NPC.
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Purpose: To investigate the influence of different keratometry (K) measurements on the postoperative outcomes of cataract surgery with extended depth-of-focus (EDOF) intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, and patients who received cataract surgery and one type of EDOF IOL implantation were included. The patients were then categorized according to K measurements, and 70 and 30 eyes were included in the biometric-K and topographic-K groups, respectively. ⋯ According to the multivariate analysis, the topographic-K group presented a significantly better UDVA (P = 0.044) and significantly lower cylinder power (P = 0.031) than the biometric-K group. Angle kappa was significantly correlated with high postoperative astigmatism in the topographic-K group (P = 0.033), whereas angle kappa, steep K, and corneal cylinder powers were significantly correlated with high postoperative astigmatism in the biometric-K group (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Topography-based K measurements yielded better refractive outcomes than biometric-based K measurements did.
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The most general cancer in men is prostate cancer (PCa), with its risk increasing due to age and obesity. Visfatin, a member of adipokines, is related to cancer progression and metastasis, but its relationship in PCa remains undetermined. In addition, no knowledge is available regarding relations between visfatin polymorphisms and clinicopathological characteristics in PCa. ⋯ Visfatin rs61330082 and rs11977021 were related with a high risk of perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and biochemical recurrence in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) > 10 PCa patients. The Cancer Genome Atlas database noted that visfatin mRNA level did not prominently differ with pathological T/N stage and overall survival. This finding is the first to document a connection between visfatin polymorphisms and clinicopathological characteristics of PCa in Taiwanese males.