We conclude that USgHIFU treatment for uterine fibroid and adenomyosis is an effective non-invasive therapy via the assessment of fibroid volume reduction, symptom improvement, UFS-QOL score increase, and acceptable level of side effects. Although preliminary experience of HIFU is encouraging, well-designed prospective trials and more clinical experiences are needed to ascertain the efficacy and safety of this new treatment.
A bioadhesive triboelectric nanogenerator (BA‐TENG), as a first‐aid rescue for instant and robust wound sealing and ultrasound‐driven accelerated wound healing, is designed. This BA‐TENG is fabricated with biocompatible materials, and integrates a flexible TENG as the top layer and bioadhesive as the bottom layer, resulting in effective electricity supply and strong sutureless sealing capability on wet tissues. When driven by ultrasound, the BA‐TENG can produce a stable voltage of 1.50 V and current of 24.20 µA underwater. The ex vivo porcine colon organ models show that the BA‐TENG seals defects instantly (≈5 s) with high interfacial toughness (≈150 J m−2), while the rat bleeding liver incision model confirms that the BA‐TENG performs rapid wound closure and hemostasis, reducing the blood loss by about 82%. When applied in living rats, the BA‐TENG not only seals skin injuries immediately but also produces a strong electric field (E‐field) of about 0.86 kV m−1 stimulated by ultrasound to accelerate skin wound healing significantly. The in vitro studies confirm that these effects are attributed to the E‐field‐accelerated cell migration and proliferation. In addition, these TENG adhesives can be applied to not only wound treatment, nerve stimulation and regeneration, and charging batteries in implanted devices.
BackgroundThe human cytosolic thioredoxin (Trx) contains a redox-active dithiol moiety in its conserved active-site sequence. Activation by a wide variety of stimuli leads to secretion of this cytoplasmic protein. Function of Trx1 has been implicated in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical significance of serum Trx1 level in patients with breast carcinoma.ResultsTo clarify whether serum levels of Trx1 could be a serum marker for breast carcinoma, we measured the serum levels of Trx1 in patients with various carcinomas (breast, lung, colorectal, and kidney cancers) using an ELISA, and investigated its associations with the tumour grading from I to III. At the cut-off point 33.1725 ng/ml on the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) Trx1 could well discriminate breast carcinoma from normal controls with a sensitivity of 89.8%, specificity 78.0%, and area under the ROC (AUC) 0.901 ± 0.0252. The serum level was well correlated with the progress of the breast carcinoma. We also investigated the diagnostic capacity of CEA and CA15-3 for the early detection of metastatic breast cancer comparing that of Trx1. In contrast to the serum CEA and CA15-3 tumour markers, the serum Trx1 levels of the early cancer (grade I) patients were significantly higher than those of normal control subjects, showing a high diagnostic sensitivity and selectivity (89.4% sensitivity, and 72.0% specificity). The serum levels of Trx1 in various patients with lung, colorectal, and kidney carcinomas indicate that the level of Trx1 is significantly higher than those of other cancer patients. Combinational analysis of CEA or CA15-3 with Trx1 for the detection of breast cancer suggest that the diagnostic capacity of CEA or CA15-3 alone for the early detection of breast cancer, especially regarding sensitivity, is significantly improved by its combination with Trx1.ConclusionsTaken together, we conclude that serum Trx1 is useful for the early diagnosis of breast cancer or the early prediction prognosis of breast cancer, and therefore has a valuable use as a diagnostic marker and companion marker to CEA and CA15-3 for breast cancer.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.