Efficacy of pegylated interferon α2a in patients without HBeAg loss after the withdrawal of long-term lamivudine therapy

BACKGROUND: Improving the HBe seroconversion rate of patients without HBeAg loss after long-term lamivudine therapy has become an urgent clinical problem that we have to face. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the mananement of these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) α2a in patients without HBeAg loss after the withdrawal of long-term lamivudine therapy. METHODS: Fifty patients with chronic hepatitis B without the loss of HBeAg after ≥96 weeks of lamivudine treatment were enrolled to withdraw from treatment to induce a biochemical breakthrough. Patients who achieved a biochemical breakthrough within 24 weeks received 48-weeks of PEG-IFN α2a therapy, and were then assessed during a subsequent 24-week follow-up period. RESULTS: Forty-three (86.0%) patients achieved a biochemical breakthrough within 24 weeks of lamivudine withdrawal. The rates of combined response (both undetectable HBV DNA and HBeAg loss) and HBsAg loss were alone 51.2% and 20.9%, respectively after 48 weeks of PEG-IFN α2a therapy, and 44.2% and 18.6%, respectively, at 24 weeks after treatment cessation. The end-of-treatment combined response rate was 65.4% among patients with a baseline HBsAg <20,000 IU/mL, which was significantly higher than 29.4% of patients with HBsAg ≥20,000 IU/mL (P=0.031). For patients with HBsAg levels <1,500 IU/mL at 12 and 24 weeks therapy, the end-of-treatment combined response rate was 68.2% and 69.0%, which were both significantly higher than patients with HBsAg ≥1,500 IU/mL (33.3% and 14.3%; P=0.048 and 0.001). The end-of-treatment combined response rate was significantly higher among patients with HBV DNA<10(5) copies/mL (76.2%) compared to patients with HBV DNA ≥10(5) copies/mL (27.3%) after 24 weeks of therapy (P=0.004). CONCLUSION: Retreatment with PEG-IFN α2a was effective and safe for patients without HBeAg loss after the withdrawal of long-term lamivudine therapy. HBsAg levels at the baseline, 12 and 24 weeks of therapy, and HBV DNA levels at 24 weeks of therapy, can predict the effect of PEG-IFN α2a after 48 weeks of therapy

Equivalent Nanocircuit Theory and Its Applications

A new methodology termed as equivalent nanocircuit (EN) theory is briefly introduced, and its recent important progress in designing meta‐material devices with peculiar characteristics in optical or infrared frequency domain is reviewed. Three representative EN‐based designs of infrared window meta‐materials, such as Butterworth filter, metal‐insulator‐metal absorber and design‐simplified TCO‐based super‐flat absorber, are demonstrated. All these progresses clearly indicate that the EN theory provides an inspiring advancement on the way of designing more complicated meta‐devices

Online Learning Community Building: a Case Study in China

Much attention has been paid to online community building in recent years due to its much acclaimed potential of enhancing knowledge construction in the Information Age. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on the process of how online learning community influence knowledge construction in particular and enhance the quality of learning in general. This paper is devoted to a case study of a popular language learning community in China (www.HJenglish.com) by drawing upon the metaphor online community is a miniature society, and thus an informal learning model is presented. In the light of the SOCIETY metaphor, virtual space and real social context are converged to facilitate the understanding the complex process of online learning. A text-based analysis of observable online activities and discourse was performed and a follow-up online questionnaire was performed to further explore how online learners conduct their voluntary learning activities and in the meantime shape the cultural environment which in turn facilitates meaningful learning. This paper concludes that to fully grasp the learning process in an online community, three aspects, namely social presence, affective supports and cognitive development, should be taken into consideration. Key words: online learning community, social presence, constructionism, CALL Résumé: L’attention prêtée à la construction de la communauté d’apprentissage sur ligne dans les dernières années est due à son potentiel beaucoup proclamé de renforcer la construction du savoir à l’âge d’information. Cependant, il y a lacune dans les recherches empiriques sur le fait que comment la communauté d’apprentissage sur ligne influence la construction du savoir et améliore en général la qualité d’apprentissage. L’article présent entreprend une étude de cas d’une communauté d’apprentissage de langue populaire en Chine (www.HJenglish.com), en utilisant la métaphore « La communauté sur ligne est une société en miniature », et présente ainsi un modèle d’apprentissage informel. A la lumière de la métaphore de « société », l’espace virtuel et le contexte social réel conjurent à faciliter la compréhension du processus complexe de l’apprentissage sur ligne. Une analyse, basée sur le texte, des activités et discours observables sur ligne et une enquête suivante sur ligne sont effectuées pour explorer profondément comment les apprenants sur ligne conduisent leurs activités d’apprentissage volontaires et, en même temps, façonner l’environnement culturel qui à son tour facilite l’apprentissage. L’auteur en arrive à conclure que, pour comprendre pleinement le processus d’apprentissage dans une communauté sur ligne, trois aspects, à savoir la présence sociale, le support affectif et le développement cognitif, doivent être pris en considération. Mots-Clés: communauté d’apprentissage sur ligne, présence sociale, constructuralisme, CAL

Minimal Clifford Shadow Estimation by Mutually Unbiased Bases

Predicting properties of large-scale quantum systems is crucial for the development of quantum science and technology. Shadow estimation is an efficient method for this task based on randomized measurements, where many-qubit random Clifford circuits are used for estimating global properties like quantum fidelity. Here we introduce the minimal Clifford measurement (MCM) to reduce the number of possible random circuits to the minimum, while keeping the effective post-processing channel in shadow estimation. In particular, we show that MCM requires $2^n+1$ distinct Clifford circuits, and it can be realized by Mutually Unbiased Bases (MUB), with $n$ as the total qubit number. By applying the Z-Tableau formalism, this ensemble of circuits can be synthesized to the $\mathrm{-S-CZ-H-}$ structure, which can be composed by $2n-1$ \emph{fixed} circuit modules, and the total circuit depth is at most $n+1$. Compared to the original Clifford measurements, our MCM significantly reduces the circuit complexity and the compilation costs. In addition, we find the sampling advantage of MCM on estimating off-diagonal operators, and extend this observation to the biased-MCM scheme to enhance the sampling improvement further.Comment: 10+15 pages, 9 figures. Comments are welcom

Identification and expansion of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells.

Pancreatic islet transplantation represents an attractive approach for the treatment of diabetes. However, the limited availability of donor islets has largely hampered this approach. In this respect, the use of alternative sources of islets such as the ex vivo expansion and differentiation of functional endocrine cells for treating diabetes has become the major focus of diabetes research. Adult pancreatic stem cells /progenitor cells have yet to be recognized because limited markers exist for their identification. While the pancreas has the capacity to regenerate under certain circumstances, questions where adult pancreatic stem/progenitor cells are localized, how they are regulated, and even if the pancreas harbors a stem cell population need to be resolved. In this article, we review the recent achievements both in the identification as well as in the expansion of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells