CONCLUSION Our preliminary study demonstrated that exosomes derived from TSH-stimulated hepatocytes were increased and showed a specific altered spectrum of proteins, many of which were involved in metabolism, signal transduction, apoptosis, and inflammation. This study offers new insights into the pathogenesis of TSH-induced lipotoxicity in NAFLD.PURPOSE To retrospectively evaluate the clinical outcomes of percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in treatment of adrenal metastasis (AM), and to compare with adrenalectomy (Adx). METHODS From June 2008 to August 2018, a total of 60 patients with AM treated at our hospital were retrospectively reviewed, of whom 29 treated by RFA (RFA group) and 31 by Adx (Adx group). The technical success, local tumor progression (LTP) and overall survival (OS) after the treatment were evaluated and compared. RESULTS In RFA group, the first technical success was 72.4% and the second technical success was 86.2%. In Adx group, all the AMs were successfully resected. After 24.5 ± 19.1 months follow-up period, a total of 8 patients (6 in RFA group and 2 in Adx group) were detected LTP. The 1-, 2- and 3- LTP rates after treatment were 17.1%, 30.9% and 44.7% in RFA group, and 6.5%, 6.5% and 6.5% in Adx group, respectively (P = 0.028). However, for AM ≤ 5 cm, the LTP between the two groups were comparable (P = 0.068). The 1-, 2- and 3- OS rates after treatment for AM were 85.0%, 42.4% and 27.8% in RFA group, and 93.0%, 66.1% and 52.3% in Adx group, respectively (P = 0.057). RFA offered shorter treatment time (23.6 ± 16.9 vs. 155.6 ± 58.8 min, P  less then  0.001), shorter hospital stay (7.8 ± 3.9 vs. 15.0 ± 4.9 days, P  less then  0.001), and lower hospital cost ($3405.7 ± 1067.8 vs. $5248.0 ± 2261.3, P = 0.003) than Adx. CONCLUSION In comparison with Adx, percutaneous US-guided RFA, as an alternative treatment, is feasible and effective in controlling AM, especially in AM ≤ 5 cm in diameter.PURPOSE The study aimed to investigate whether repeat number in the androgen receptor (AR) gene has any contribution to phenotypes of the disease of androgen excess (polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), idiopathic hyperandrogenemia (IHA) and idiopathic hirsutism (IH) in a cohort of Turkish women. METHODS Three hundred and fifty-four voluntary premenopausal women (172 healthy controls and 182 patients with androgen excess disorders and idiopathic hirsutism) 18-45 years of age seen at an outpatient endocrine clinic at Erciyes University Hospital between January 2013 and December 2014 were included. click here All volunteers have undergone physical examination and biochemical evaluation. The polymorphic (CAG)n repeat of the human AR was determined by fragment analyses. RESULTS Detailed clinical analyses of the patients ended up with 137 PCOS, 24 IHA, and 21 IH. Pairwise comparisons revealed the CAG repeat number differences between the PCOS and controls (p = 0.005) and IH and controls (p = 0.020). Women with CAG repeat length ≤ 17 had a significantly increased twofold risk for PCOS than those women with > 17 CAG repeats OR 2.0 (95% CI 1.2-3.3, p = 0.005). Women with CAG repeat length ≤ 17 had a significantly increased threefold risk for IH than those women with > 17 CAG repeats OR 2.9 (95% CI 1.2-7.3, p = 0.020). When correlation analysis was performed, a weak negative correlation was detected between the short allele and FGS score (r = - 0.131, p = 0.013) and a positive relationship between total testosterone and longer allele in the IHA group (r = 0.425, p = 0.039). Median repeat length of the shorter allele between oligomenorrhea and woman with normal menstrual cycle was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.017). CONCLUSION This study indicated that the risk of PCOS and IH is associated with the inheritance of ARs with shorter CAG repeats.BACKGROUND For bariatric surgery, patient selection, procedural choice and availability has changed over time internationally. We analysed the annual volume and location of bariatric surgery in New Zealand by demographic characteristics, clinical history and procedure. METHODS Patients who underwent bariatric procedures between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2017 were identified through New Zealand hospitalisation records. Hospitalisation and medication data were used to indicate a clinical history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or diabetes. Publicly funded intervention rate by ethnicity was calculated using year- and sex-specific ethnic population estimates and obesity prevalence statistics. RESULTS This study included 9109 patients, undergoing gastric bypass (GB, n = 3323) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG, n = 5452) as the most common procedures. Nationally, annual bariatric surgery volume increased in the public sector, from 34 to 516 between 2004 and 2017, with a similar increase in available private sector figures. Public recipients were significantly more likely to have a history of diabetes (33.8% vs 14.4%) and/or CVD (9.0% vs 4.7%) than private recipients. Male recipients had higher prevalence of diabetes (29.9% vs 17.6%) and CVD (12.9% vs 4.1%) than female recipients. After adjustment for the adult population prevalence of morbid obesity, Pacific people had half the intervention rate of European and Māori. CONCLUSION Bariatric surgery is increasing in frequency in New Zealand, with SG and GB being the most common procedures. Significant differences in patient characteristics exist between the public and private sectors. Ensuring equitable selection of publicly funded bariatric surgery candidates remains a challenge.The use of wastewater for irrigation in agroforestry is cost-effective for water management. It is well established that rhizospheric microorganisms such as N2-fixing bacteria are able to modulate rhizobioaugmention and to boost phyoremediation process. To date, no study has been conducted to evaluate biological effects of rhizobioaugmentation in Casuarina glauca trees induced by their symbiont N-fixing actinobacteria of the genus Frankia. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the main effects of rhizobioaugmentation on the biological activity in the C. glauca’s rhizosphere and on C. glauca growth in soils irrigated with industrial wastewater. Two Frankia strains (BMG5.22 and BMG5.23) were used in a single or dual inoculations of C. glauca seedlings irrigated with industrial wastewater. Soil enzymes activity related to carbon, phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen cycling were measured. Results revealed that the BMG5.22 Frankia strain increases significantly the size (dry weight) of C. glauca shoots and roots while dual inoculation increased significantly the root length.