INTRODUCTION We sought to examine changes in the magnitude of social inequality in the uptake of cervical cancer screening between 2001 and 2009 in Taiwan. METHODS We used data from the 2001 and 2009 Taiwan National Health Interview Surveys to calculate the absolute (slope of index of inequality, SII) and relative (relative index of inequality, RII) summary measures of social inequality in th...

PURPOSE We performed technetium-99m hexakis-2-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (Tc-99m MIBI) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 23 patients with primary lung cancer between July 1993 and March 1996. We evaluated the relationships among the uptake ratio, retention index and the prognosis after radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Tc-99m MIBI SPECT was perfor...

BACKGROUND Cardiorespiratory fitness measured by treadmill testing has prognostic significance in determining mortality with cardiovascular and other chronic disease states. The accuracy of a recently developed method for estimating maximal oxygen uptake (VO2peak), the heart rate index (HRI), is dependent only on heart rate (HR) and was tested against oxygen uptake (VO2), either measured or pre...

PURPOSE (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is currently not used on a routine basis for imaging of neuroendocrine (NE) tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of FDG-PET in patients with NE tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Ninety-eight prospectively enrolled patients with NE tumors underwent FDG-PET imaging. FDG uptake was quantified by ma...

To determine whether adding blood to a cardioplegic solution affects myocardial preservation, a randomized prospective study was carried out in 60 patients undergoing coronary revascularization to compare the effects of crystalloid potassium cardioplegics (group C) and potassium cardioplegic solutions to which blood has been added (group B) on markers of myocardial metabolism (lactate, inorgani...

The thyroid hormone/thyroxin-binding globulin (TBG) ratio and the free thyroid hormone index (FTI) were compared in 372 subjects classified according to age, sex, and biochemical and clinical findings. Age-related variations in thyroid function tests were investigated, as was the relationship between triiodothyronine uptake and TBG. Men, but not women, showed significant age-dependent changes i...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was the scintigraphic evaluation of clinical no-reflow phenomenon. BACKGROUND In patients with acute myocardial infarction, the relationship of the severity of reduction of microvascular reflow to the ischemia time or to the secondary extension of myocardial necrosis is poorly understood, and we accordingly conducted a scintigraphic evaluation of clinical no-r...

The cardiorespiratory responses to weight reduction due to physical exercise were examined in fourteen women with obesity, aged 36 to 67 years (Body Mass Index, 32.4 +/- 1.5 kg/m2). The patients were instructed to exercise at approximately 60% of maximum oxygen uptake for 2 h every day for approximately 3 months. To evaluate physical strength, a graded cycling exercise test was performed both b...

BACKGROUND To assess gliomas using image-based estimation of cellularity, we utilized isotropic diffusion spectrum imaging (IDSI) on clinically feasible diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and compared it with amino acid uptake measured by α[(11)C]methyl-L-tryptophan positron emission tomography (AMT-PET). METHODS In 10 patients with a newly-diagnosed glioma, metabolically active tumor regions wer...

OBJECTIVE We describe the development, evaluation, and comparison of colloidal gold-loaded, poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based nanoparticles containing anti-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome drug stavudine and uptake of these nanoparticles by macrophages in vitro. METHODS WE USED THE FOLLOWING METHODS IN THIS STUDY: drug-excipient interaction by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ...