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Abstract Background The triage system used during an actual mass burn casualty (MBC) incident is a major focus of concern. This study introduces a MBC triage system that was used by a burn center during an actual MBC incident following a powder explosion in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Methods This study retrospectively analyzed data from patients who were sent to the study hospital during a MBC incident. The patient list was retrieved from a national online management system. A MBC triage system was developed at the study hospital using the following modifiers: consciousness, breathing, and burn size. Medical records were retrieved from electronic records for analysis. Patient outcomes consisted of emergency department (ED) disposition and intervention. Results The patient population was predominantly female (56.3%), with an average age of 24.9 years. Mean burn sizes relative to the TBSA of triage level I, II, and III patients were 57.9%, 40.5%, and 8.7%, respectively. ICU length of stay differed markedly according to triage level (mean days for levels I vs II vs III: 57.9 vs 39.9 vs 2.5 days; p

Introduction: The psychomotor skill of cardiopulmonary resuscitation emphasized the importance of high-quality chest compression. This investigation examined the effect of self-debriefing and the different materials of debriefing during hands-on cardiopulmonary resuscitation practice for healthcare providers. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial of a cardiopulmonary resuscitation training program involving emergency medical technicians in northern Taiwan. Participants were blinded to the study purpose and were allocated randomly using the black envelope method. All participants completed a 2-min pre-test of hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation using a manikin. Those who were allocated to the control group received self-debriefing with knowledge of pre-test result. Those who were allocated to the experimental group received self-debriefing with an additional biomechanical information of performance of chest compression. A post-test was performed 30 min after the pre-test. Results: A total of 88 participants were enrolled with 44 in each group. There was significant difference of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality after self-debriefing among all participants (pre- vs post-test adequate rate, 54.7% vs 67.5%, p = 0.028; adequate depth, 41.2% vs 69.5%, p < 0.001; full recoil, 35.9% vs 54.5%, p = 0.001). The analysis of effects of self-debriefing with additional knowledge of performance revealed no significant difference in any of the measurements (improvement in adequate rate, 11.3% vs 14.2%, p = 0.767; adequate depth, 29.6% vs 27.0%, p = 0.784; full recoil, 23.0% vs 14.1%, p = 0.275). Conclusion: Self-debriefing improved hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality whether or not biomechanical information of performance of chest compression was given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Purpose: The risk of recurrence after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is high. Apart from nucleos(t)ide analogues therapy, population-based studies suggest statin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin have chemopreventive effect on recurrence. The role of those drugs on HCC recurrence should be delineated. Methods: Consecutive 430 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients undergoing curative resection of HCC were enrolled. The detailed medical records including the use of statin, NSAID and aspirin were reviewed. All the patients had regular image study surveillance after the surgery. Predictors associated with recurrence were analyzed by Cox's proportional hazards models. Results: There were 58.8% patients in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage A, and 37.6% had severe liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. Of them, 47 (10.9%) patients had received potential chemoprophylactic agents either at the time of HCC diagnosis or before their HCC recurrence. During a median 50.3 months of follow-up, 54.7% patients experienced recurrence. The median time to recurrence was 15.4 months. In the univariate analysis, aspirin and statins use were significantly associated a low risk of recurrence (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.18; p = 0.016, and HR: 0.50; p = 0.031, respectively). After adjusting competing factors, large tumor size, severe liver fibrosis, and high alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level were significantly associated with recurrence. Importantly, aspirin use was found to significantly decrease the risk for HCC recurrence with the adjusted HRs of 0.22–0.24 based on the models. Conclusion: Aspirin use may have chemo-preventive effect on recurrence of hepatitis B virus-related HCC after curative resection. Keywords: Aspirin, HBV, HCC, Recurrence, Resection

Long term effects of subtotal gastrectomy on gut microbiota modifications with subsequent metabolic profiles are limited. We aimed to investigate and compare long-term effects of metabolic profiles and microbiota status in early gastric cancer patients post curative subtotal gastrectomy to the controls. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed type II diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome occurrence in two groups: 111 patients after curative subtotal gastrectomy with Billroth II (BII) anastomosis and Roux-en-Y gastrojejuno (RYGJ) anastomosis and 344 age-sex matched controls. Fecal samples from those with BII, RYGJ, and controls were analyzed by next-generation sequencing method. Metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes mellitus occurrences were significantly lower in patients after subtotal gastrectomy with RYGJ than in controls over the long term (> 8 years) follow-up (P < 0.05). The richness and diversity of gut microbiota significantly increased after subtotal gastrectomy with RYGJ (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the principal component analysis revealed significant differences in bacterial genera abundance after subtotal gastrectomy with BII and RYGJ (P < 0.001). Genera of Oscillospira, Prevotella, Coprococcus, Veillonella, Clostridium, Desulfovibrio, Anaerosinus, Slackia, Oxalobacter, Victivallis, Butyrivibrio, Sporobacter, and Campylobacter shared more abundant roles both in the RYGJ group and BII groups. Early gastric cancer patients after subtotal gastrectomy with RYGJ had a lower occurrence of metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes mellitus than the controls during long term follow-up. In parallel with the metabolic improvements, gut microbial richness and diversity also significantly increased after subtotal gastrectomy with RYGJ.