Obligations of Contracts: Intent and Distortion

<p><b>Introduction:</b> Treosulfan is an alkylating agent that is used for the treatment of ovarian cancer and for conditioning prior to stem cell transplantation. It is a prodrug that is activated non-enzymatically to two active epoxides.</p> <p><b>Objectives:</b> To optimize a protocol for both <i>in vivo</i> samples handling and <i>in vitro</i> drug preparation. Treosulfan stability was tested in biological fluids at different conditions as well as for its cytotoxicity on cell lines.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Plasma samples can be safely frozen for a short period up to 8 h, however; for longer periods, samples should be acidified. Urine samples and cell culture media can be safely frozen regardless their pH. For <i>in vitro</i> investigations, incubation of treosulfan at 37 °C for 24 h activated 100% of the drug. Whole blood acidification should be avoided for the risk of hemolysis. Finally; treosulfan cytotoxicity on HL-60 cells has increased following pre-incubation for 24 h at 37 °C compared to K562 cell line.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> The stability profiling of treosulfan provided a valuable reference for handling of biological samples for both <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> studies. These results can be utilized for further investigations concerning the drug kinetics and dynamics in addition to the development of new pharmaceutical formulations.</p

Festividades sazonais e comunitárias no currículo em educação de infância

Relatório apresentado para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré-EscolarO presente relatório engloba o percurso formativo ao longo da prática de ensino supervisionada em contexto de Creche e Jardim de Infância, refletindo as aprendizagens realizadas e as dificuldades sentidas, assim como a emergência de questões decorrentes da prática. A problemática estudada, centrada nas valências de Creche e de Jardim de Infância, refere-se à Importância das festividades sazonais e comunitárias num currículo em Educação de Infância. A partir da abordagem do significado e importância das festividades feita por alguns autores, o presente estudo tem como objetivo geral compreender a importância atribuída pelas educadoras de infância à celebração das festividades, quais as datas que privilegiam, os motivos que justificam essas escolhas, assim como as implicações que identificam para as aprendizagens e para o desenvolvimento infantil. O estudo, qualitativo e de carácter exploratório, utiliza para a recolha de dados a técnica do inquérito por entrevista. Conclui-se que nas duas valências as profissionais integram no trabalho educativo a comemoração de determinados dias festivos, garantindo a sua importância e considerando que promovem aprendizagens em todas as áreas do desenvolvimento.The present report covers the formative path along the supervised teaching practice in the context of Nursery and Kindergarten, reflecting the learning achieved and difficulties experienced as well as the emergence of issues arising from practice. The studied problem, focusing on the valences of Nursery and Preschool, refers to the importance of seasonal and community festivities in a curriculum in Childhood Education. From the approach to the meaning and importance of the festivities by some authors, this study has the overall objective of understanding the importance given by the kindergarten teachers to the celebration of the festivities, which dates that privilege, the reasons for these choices, as well as identifying the implications for learning and child development. The study, of qualitative and exploratory nature, uses for data collection technique interview survey. It is concluded that on both valences, the kindergarten teachers integrate on the educational work the celebration of certain festive days, ensuring their importance as promoters of learning in all areas of development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Image_1_Analysis of the main indicators and risk factors of ultrasonic shear wave elastography for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis among adults.TIF

ObjectiveThis study was conducted to explore the main indicators of ultrasonic shear wave elastography (SWE) for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) and its influencing factors.MethodsWe collected 910 patients between January 2018 and November 2023 from the department of ultrasound, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University. Logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol, hypertension and diabetes on the diagnosis of OA by SWE.ResultsThe results showed that medial meniscal projection distance (MMPD) and OA had a positively correlated dose–response relationship (OR = 2.12, 95%CI (1.53, 3.95), trend p ConclusionIn diagnosing OA, MMPD and MME can be used as reliable indicators, while people of advanced age and high BMI have a high possibility diagnosed with OA.</p

Characteristics of studies eligible for meta-analysis.

<p>Characteristics of studies eligible for meta-analysis.</p

The Diagnostic Value of the FIB-4 Index for Staging Hepatitis B-Related Fibrosis: A Meta-Analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>Liver fibrosis stage is an important factor in determining prognosis and need for treatment in patients infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Liver biopsies are typically used to assess liver fibrosis; however, noninvasive alternatives such as the FIB-4 index have also been developed.</p><p>Aims</p><p>To quantify the accuracy of the FIB-4 index in the diagnosis of HBV related fibrosis and cirrhosis.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A meta-analysis of studies comparing the diagnostic accuracy of the FIB-4 index vs. liver biopsy in HBV-infected patients was performed using studies retrieved from the following databases: PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and the Chinese Biology Medicine disc. A hierarchical summary receiver operating curves model and bivariate model were used to produce summary receiver operating characteristic curves and pooled estimates of sensitivity and specificity. The heterogeneity was explored with meta-regression analysis. Publication bias was detected using Egger’s test and the trim and fill method.</p><p>Results</p><p>12 studies (<i>N</i> = 1,908) and 10 studies (<i>N</i> = 2,105) were included in the meta-analysis for significant fibrosis and cirrhosis, respectively. For significant fibrosis, the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating curve (AUHSROC) was 0.78 (95% CI = 0.74–0.81). The recommended cutoff value was between 1.45 and 1.62, and the AUHSROC, summary sensitivity and specificity were 0.78 (95% CI = 0.74–0.81), 0.65 (95% CI = 0.56–0.73) and 0.77 (95% CI = 0.7–0.83), respectively. For cirrhosis, the AUHSROC was 0.89 (95% CI = 0.85–0.91). The recommended cutoff value was between 2.9 and 3.6, and the AUHSROC, summary sensitivity and specificity were 0.96 (95% CI = 0.92–1.00), 0.42 (95% CI = 0.36–0.48) and 0.96 (95% CI = 0.95–0.97), respectively. No publication bias was detected.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The FIB-4 index is valuable for detecting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in HBV-infected patients, but has suboptimal accuracy in excluding fibrosis and cirrhosis.</p></div

Subgroup analysis based on different FIB-4 index cutoff values.

<p>95% CI: 95% confidence interval. DOR: diagnostic odds ratio. PLR: positive likelihood ratio; NLR: negative likelihood ratio. AUHSROC: area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve.</p><p>Subgroup analysis based on different FIB-4 index cutoff values.</p

Forest plot of the prevalence of MetS in HBsAg-positive subjects versus healthy controls.

<p>Forest plot of the prevalence of MetS in HBsAg-positive subjects versus healthy controls.</p

The diagnostic performance of the FIB-4 index for detecting significant fibrosis, severe fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Δ<p>The disease spectrum of some studies <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Erdogan1" target="_blank">[11]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Ji1" target="_blank">[17]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Bonnard1" target="_blank">[19]</a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Gong1" target="_blank">[21]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Seto1" target="_blank">[24]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Wang2" target="_blank">[26]</a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Xun1" target="_blank">[28]</a> were not in good accordance with our study, thus they were excluded for sensitivity analysis.</p><p>*The studies in which the reference standard results were interpreted without knowledge of the results of the index tests, were grouped into “Blindness”.</p><p>The “proper interval” was defined as the time interval between the determination of the FIB-4 index and liver biopsy was no longer than 7 days.</p>#<p>As two studies <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Zhang1" target="_blank">[22]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Zhang3" target="_blank">[32]</a> were written by the same author, the study <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105728#pone.0105728-Zhang3" target="_blank">[32]</a> with the smaller sample size was excluded for sensitivity analysis. 95% CI: 95% confidence interval. DOR: diagnostic odds ratio. PLR: positive likelihood ratio; NLR: negative likelihood ratio. AUHSROC: area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve.</p><p>The diagnostic performance of the FIB-4 index for detecting significant fibrosis, severe fibrosis and cirrhosis.</p

Analysis of publication bias for studies.

<p>95% CI: 95% confidence interval. SDOR: summary diagnostic odds ratio.</p><p>Analysis of publication bias for studies.</p

Methodological quality graph.

<p>Summary of methodological quality of studies according to Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool concerning risk of bias and applicability in review authors’ judgments about each domain for each included study and review authors’ judgments about each domain, presented as percentages across included studies.</p