Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most highly malignant tumors. Liver tumor-initiating cells (LTICs) have been considered to contribute to HCC progression and metastasis. ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), as a key enzyme for de novo lipogenesis, has been reported to be upregulated in various tumors. However, its expression and role in HCC and LTICs remain unknown.

The expressions of ACLY in HCC tissues were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier curves and Chi-square test were used to determine the clinical significance of ACLY expression in HCC patients. A series of assays were performed to determine the function of ACLY on stemness, migration and invasion of HCC cells. Luciferase reporter assay, Western blotting and immunoprecipitation were used to study the regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling by ACLY. Rescue experiments were performed to investigate whether β-catenin was the mediator of ACLY-regulated stemness and migration in HCC cells.

ACLY was highly expressed in HCC tissues and LTICs. Overexpression of ACLY was significantly correlated with poor prognosis, progression and metastasis of HCC patients. Knockdown of ACLY remarkably suppressed stemness properties, migration and invasion in HCC cells. Mechanistically, ACLY could regulate the canonical Wnt pathway by affecting the stability of β-catenin, and Lys49 acetylation of β-catenin might mediate ACLY-regulated β-catenin level in HCC cells.

ACLY is a potent regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in modulating LTICs stemness and metastasis in HCC. ACLY may serve as a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

ACLY is a potent regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in modulating LTICs stemness and metastasis in HCC. ACLY may serve as a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.In Switzerland a legal prohibition of volume-based bonus agreements has been initiated which is expected to take force at the beginning of 2021. Bonus agreements for physicians pose a risk to unbiased indication, possibly leading to over-, under- and misuse of medical care. In order to investigate physicians’ perceptions of bonus agreements and reflect on them from an ethical point of view, we conducted a qualitative interview study with Swiss senior physicians. The remuneration system is complex and diverse so that the interviewed physicians were not always able to explain in detail to which targets the variable components of their salary were linked. Study participants were aware of their ethical responsibility regarding non-biased indication and cost-effective medicine. All rejected volume-based bonus agreements. Target agreements should generally have a clear, comprehensible function and always contain a component related to the quality of care delivered. Critical attention should go beyond a narrow focus on volume-based bonus agreements to include other volume-oriented target agreements and reimbursement systems that have the potential to negatively affect patient care.

Effective pain management for patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, using pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies, is essential. This pilot study evaluated music as an adjuvant therapy with prescribed analgesics to reduce acute pain and analgesic use among patients undergoing arthroplasty surgery.

Prospective randomized controlled trial of 50 participants scheduled for arthroplasty surgery at a large university-affiliated hospital.

Participants were randomly assigned to treatment (music and analgesic medication; n=25) or control (analgesic medication only; n=25) groups. The intervention consisted of listening to self-selected music for 30minutes, three times per day postoperatively in hospital and for 2days postdischarge at home. Participants rated pain intensity and distress before and after music listening (treatment group) or meals (control group). Analgesic medication use was assessed via medical records in hospital and self-report logs postdischarge.

Forty-seven participants completedasy to administer, accessible, and affordable. Patient education is needed to encourage patients to continue to use music to reduce pain at home during the postoperative recovery period.

To evaluate the mortality rate and impact of SES on mortality in PD using a nationwide cohort in Korea.

We selected patients diagnosed with PD (ICD-10 code G20) and registration code for PD (V124) in the program for rare intractable diseases between 2004 and 2015. After that, atypical parkinsonism was excluded. A matched cohort of individuals without PD were enrolled by randomly matching patients by sex, age, and year of diagnosis to the PD group with a ratio of 19. Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify the effects of SES on mortality using Hazard Ratios and 95% confidence intervals.

In total, 26,570 participants were enrolled. The mortality rate was 30.37% in PD cohort and 16.69% in the comparison cohort. According to income level, PD patients in low-middle group revealed significantly decreased HRs of 0.704 (95% CI, 0.533-0.930) compared to those in the lowest group. The medical aid group showed an increased mortality rate (HR=1.552, 95% CI, 1.191-2.021) compared to the national health insurance group. In the subgroup analyses, medical aid was associated with mortality only in PD with female (HR=1.740, 95% CI, 1.242-2.438) or aged 60-79 years (HR=1.434, 95% CI 1.005-2.045). There was no significant difference in mortality rate according to residential area in PD.

In Korea, individual level low SES including income level and insurance type were significantly associated with increased mortality, whereas regional level SES (residential area) was not related with mortality on PD.

In Korea, individual level low SES including income level and insurance type were significantly associated with increased mortality, whereas regional level SES (residential area) was not related with mortality on PD.

Class II division 1 is the most common malocclusion in Europe. When the overjet is severe, the risk of trauma on anterior maxillary teeth as well as the risk of being bullied at school is increased. From this point of view, early treatment reduces the risk of dental fracture and increases patient self-esteem. In another hand, MIH is frequent with a prevalence of around 15% in children with country specificity, and molars in particular are difficult to treat endodontically with good long-term results when the MIH is severe. In many cases when the third molars are present, the extraction of the affected teeth followed by an orthodontic treatment remains the best solution but requires adequate orthodontic mechanics.

The purpose of this article is to display one case of class II division1 with MIH treated by orthopaedic therapy and followed by molar extractions and fixed appliance.

The purpose of this article is to display one case of class II division1 with MIH treated by orthopaedic therapy and followed by molar extractions and fixed appliance.

The objective of this report is to use in orthodontic patients the methods of virtual indirect bonding and direct bonding using eye vision or loupes in order to compare their accuracy in the three dimensions of space.

Brackets were directly placed by one clinician to 18 patients with a total number of 298 permanent teeth. Then loupes were used to improve bracket positioning. Intraoral scanning of the dental arches was performed before bonding, after direct bonding and after the use of loupes. Subsequently, an orthodontic software was used to virtually indirectly bond the brackets on the first intraoral scanning taken before bonding. A three-dimensional mesh processing software was used to superimpose the three scans and to perform measurements in the mesio-distal and occlusal-gingival dimensions as well as in the mesio-distal angulation.

Virtual indirect bonding was more accurate in bracket positioning compared to direct bonding by eye vision or using loupes in all teeth and most of the teeth groups measured. Specific teeth and locations in the dental arch areas exhibited more bonding inaccuracies in the two direct bonding groups as compared to virtual indirect bonding. The use of loupes did not significantly increase the bonding accuracy compared to direct vision.

Indirect virtual bonding facilitated accurate bracket positioning compared to direct vision or with loupes direct bonding in the dimensions and angulation measured.

Indirect virtual bonding facilitated accurate bracket positioning compared to direct vision or with loupes direct bonding in the dimensions and angulation measured.

The advent of wide-awake local anaesthesia has led to a reduced need for main theatre for trauma and elective plastic procedures. This results in significant cost-benefits for the institution. This study aims to show how a dedicated 7 days/ week plastic surgery procedural (PSP) unit, performing both elective and trauma surgeries, can lead to significant cost-benefits for the institution.

Retrospective review of all cases performed in the PSP unit between 1 September and 31 August 2018. We utilised hospital directory admissions data and the hospital’s intranet operating theatre system to calculate hospital days saved. Cost analysis was performed using Saolta financial data.

A total of 3058 operations were performed. Of these operations, 2388 cases were elective and 670 were trauma cases. The average waiting time for trauma cases for main operating theatre was 1.4 days, saving a total of 487 hospital days. The total savings associated with hospital bed days were €347,861. The estimated resource savings from performing a procedure in PSP compared with main theatre with regional anaesthesia were €529.00 and €391.00 without regional anaesthesia. The cost saved due to resources was therefore €337,226. The total cost-benefit associated with performing surgeries in PSP including hospital days and resources saved was calculated as €685,087.

This study shows the benefit of performing elective and trauma operations in minor procedure units such as PSP. PSP results in a more efficient service, reducing waiting times for surgery, shorter hospital stay, reduced operating cost and an overall significant cost saving.

This study shows the benefit of performing elective and trauma operations in minor procedure units such as PSP. PSP results in a more efficient service, reducing waiting times for surgery, shorter hospital stay, reduced operating cost and an overall significant cost saving.

Cryoballoon ablation is an effective procedure to treat atrial fibrillation (AF). However, AF recurrence rate at 1-year follow-up is approximately 20% despite improvements in ablation technique.

To find factors predictive of AF recurrence following a first pulmonary vein isolation procedure using a second-generation cryoballoon (PVI-2CB).

This was an observational, retrospective, single-centre study. From June 2012 to April 2017, all patients who had a PVI-2CB procedure and a scheduled follow-up at Rouen University Hospital were included. The primary endpoint was atrial arrhythmia (AA) recurrence (e.g. AF, flutter or tachycardia), considering a blanking period of 2 months following the procedure. Secondary endpoints were procedural variables for each pulmonary vein (successful isolation, time to disconnection, total cryoballoon application time, number of cryoballoon applications, level of occlusion during cryoballoon application leading to successful disconnection and lowest temperature reached during successful cryoballoon application), occurrence of redo procedures, use of antiarrhythmic drugs and adverse events.