1,352 research outputs found
Estimates of the effect on hepatic iron of oral deferiprone compared with subcutaneous desferrioxamine for treatment of iron overload in thalassemia major: a systematic review
BACKGROUND: Beta thalassemia major requires regular blood transfusions and iron chelation to alleviate the harmful accumulation of iron. Evidence on the efficacy and safety of the available agents, desferrioxamine and deferiprone, is derived from small, non-comparative, heterogeneous observational studies. This evidence was reviewed to quantitatively compare the ability of these chelators to reduce hepatic iron. METHODS: The literature was searched using Medline and all reports addressing the effect of either chelator on hepatic iron were considered. Data were abstracted independently by two investigators. Analyses were performed using reported individual patient data. Hepatic iron concentrations at study end and changes over time were compared using ANCOVA, controlling for initial iron load. Differences in the proportions of patients improving were tested using Ï(2). RESULTS: Eight of 11 reports identified provided patient-level data relating to 30 desferrioxamine- and 68 deferiprone-treated patients. Desferrioxamine was more likely than optimal dose deferiprone to decrease hepatic iron over the average follow-up of 45 months (odds ratio, 19.0, 95% CI, 2.4 to 151.4). The degree of improvement was also larger with desferrioxamine. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggests that desferrioxamine is more effective than deferiprone in lowering hepatic iron. This comparative analysis â despite its limitations â should prove beneficial to physicians faced with the challenge of selecting the optimal treatment for their patients
Abrupt Convergence and Escape Behavior for Birth and Death Chains
We link two phenomena concerning the asymptotical behavior of stochastic
processes: (i) abrupt convergence or cut-off phenomenon, and (ii) the escape
behavior usually associated to exit from metastability. The former is
characterized by convergence at asymptotically deterministic times, while the
convergence times for the latter are exponentially distributed. We compare and
study both phenomena for discrete-time birth-and-death chains on Z with drift
towards zero. In particular, this includes energy-driven evolutions with energy
functions in the form of a single well. Under suitable drift hypotheses, we
show that there is both an abrupt convergence towards zero and escape behavior
in the other direction. Furthermore, as the evolutions are reversible, the law
of the final escape trajectory coincides with the time reverse of the law of
cut-off paths. Thus, for evolutions defined by one-dimensional energy wells
with sufficiently steep walls, cut-off and escape behavior are related by time
inversion.Comment: 2 figure
Polydatin beneficial effects in zebrafish larvae undergoing multiple stress types
none8noPolydatin is a polyphenol, whose beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, have been largely demonstrated. At the same time, copper has an important role in the correct organism homeostasis and alteration of its concentration can induce oxidative stress. In this study, the efficacy of polydatin to counteract the stress induced by CuSO4 exposure or by caudal fin amputation was investigated in zebrafish larvae. The study revealed that polydatin can reduced the stress induced by a 2 h exposure to 10 ”M CuSO4 by lowering the levels of il1b and cxcl8b.1 and reducing neutrophils migration in the head and along the lateral line. Similarly, polydatin administration reduced the number of neutrophils in the area of fin cut. In addition, polydatin upregulates the expression of sod1 mRNA and CAT activity, both involved in the antioxidant response. Most of the results obtained in this study support the working hypothesis that polydatin administration can modulate stress response and its action is more effective in mitigating the effects rather than in preventing chemical damages.openPessina A.; Di Vincenzo M.; Maradonna F.; Marchegiani F.; Olivieri F.; Randazzo B.; Gioacchini G.; Carnevali O.Pessina, A.; Di Vincenzo, M.; Maradonna, F.; Marchegiani, F.; Olivieri, F.; Randazzo, B.; Gioacchini, G.; Carnevali, O
Switchable Solvent Selective Extraction of Hydrophobic Antioxidants from Synechococcus bigranulatus
Hydrophobic molecules, in particular, carotenoids, have been directly extracted from Synechococcus bigranulatus ACUF680 by means of secondary amine switchable solvent N-ethylbutylamine (EBA) without any other pretreatment. EBA was able to extract hydrophobic molecules from both fresh and frozen biomass at the same extent of the conventional procedure (about 20% of dry biomass). In particular, selective extraction of a zeaxanthin-enriched fraction (green fraction, GF) and a ÎČ-carotene-enriched fraction (orange fraction, OF) was obtained. The ratio between zeaxanthin and ÎČ-carotene was 4.4 ± 1.5 for GF, 0.07 ± 0.06 for OF, and about 1 for conventional extraction. These fractions showed in vitro antioxidant activity (IC50 values of 0.056 ± 0.013 and 0.024 ± 0.008 mg mL-1 for GF and OF, respectively) and biocompatibility on immortalized cells. Moreover, OF and GF were able to protect cells from oxidative stress, both before and after thermal treatment. Results clearly indicate that EBA is a good candidate to specifically extract ÎČ-carotene and zeaxanthin from the wet biomass of S. bigranulatus without affecting their biological activity. Skipping energy-intensive operations to break the cells and using either fresh or frozen biomass may be the driving factors to use EBA switchable solvent on an industrial scale
Remission in ankylosing spondylitis treated with anti-TNF-α drugs: a national multicentre study
Objective: The primary objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the possibility of achieving partial remission (PR) in AS patients treated with anti-TNF-α antagonists, such as adalimumab (ADA), etanercept (ETA) and infliximab (INF), in a real clinical practice setting. Predictors of PR were also evaluated. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in patients with AS treated with ADA, ETA and INF from 2000 to 2012. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted to determine the rates of PR during the treatment with anti-TNF-α drugs. Results: A total of 283 patients with AS were treated with ADA (18.7%), ETA (26.8%) and INF (54.4%) as first anti-TNF-α drugs, with a PR rate of 57.6%. The probability of obtaining PR with ADA, ETA or INF was not significantly different among all anti-TNF-α patients. AS patients treated with a second anti-TNF-α drug had a PR rate of 40.5%, but after switching for lack of response, the probability of obtaining PR with a second anti-TNF-α drug was significantly lower from that of the first anti-TNF-α drug (P = 0.0039). The probability of obtaining PR in patients with enthesitis (P = 0.04) or psoriasis (P = 0.0016) or low levels of CRP (P = 0.0225) was significantly lower compared with that of patients without these manifestations at baseline. Conclusion: Our real-life study on PR confirmed the effectiveness of ADA, ETA or INF as first or second anti-TNF-α drugs. The presence at baseline of enthesitis or psoriasis or low CRP values yielded a lower probability of obtaining PR. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved
Critical droplets in Metastable States of Probabilistic Cellular Automata
We consider the problem of metastability in a probabilistic cellular
automaton (PCA) with a parallel updating rule which is reversible with respect
to a Gibbs measure. The dynamical rules contain two parameters and
which resemble, but are not identical to, the inverse temperature and external
magnetic field in a ferromagnetic Ising model; in particular, the phase diagram
of the system has two stable phases when is large enough and is
zero, and a unique phase when is nonzero. When the system evolves, at small
positive values of , from an initial state with all spins down, the PCA
dynamics give rise to a transition from a metastable to a stable phase when a
droplet of the favored phase inside the metastable phase reaches a
critical size. We give heuristic arguments to estimate the critical size in the
limit of zero ``temperature'' (), as well as estimates of the
time required for the formation of such a droplet in a finite system. Monte
Carlo simulations give results in good agreement with the theoretical
predictions.Comment: 5 LaTeX picture
Proceedings of the third French-Ukrainian workshop on the instrumentation developments for HEP
The reports collected in these proceedings have been presented in the third
French-Ukrainian workshop on the instrumentation developments for high-energy
physics held at LAL, Orsay on October 15-16. The workshop was conducted in the
scope of the IDEATE International Associated Laboratory (LIA). Joint
developments between French and Ukrainian laboratories and universities as well
as new proposals have been discussed. The main topics of the papers presented
in the Proceedings are developments for accelerator and beam monitoring,
detector developments, joint developments for large-scale high-energy and
astroparticle physics projects, medical applications.Comment: 3rd French-Ukrainian workshop on the instrumentation developments for
High Energy Physics, October 15-16, 2015, LAL, Orsay, France, 94 page
New Therapeutic Options for the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease.
Sickle cell disease (SCD; ORPHA232; OMIM # 603903) is a chronic and invalidating disorder distributed worldwide, with high morbidity and mortality. Given the disease complexity and the multiplicity of pathophysiological targets, development of new therapeutic options is critical, despite the positive effects of hydroxyurea (HU), for many years the only approved drug for SCD. New therapeutic strategies might be divided into (1) pathophysiology-related novel therapies and (2) innovations in curative therapeutic options such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy. The pathophysiology related novel therapies are: a) Agents which reduce sickling or prevent sickle red cell dehydration; b) Agents targeting SCD vasculopathy and sickle cell-endothelial adhesive events; c) Anti-oxidant agents. This review highlights new therapeutic strategies in SCD and discusses future developments, research implications, and possible innovative clinical trials
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