Search results for " ALPHA"
showing 10 items of 1610 documents
Effects of Ribavirin Dose Reduction vs Erythropoietin for Boceprevir-Related Anemia in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 Infection—A…
2013
International audience; Background & AimsTreatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with boceprevir, peginterferon, and ribavirin can lead to anemia, which has been managed by reducing ribavirin dose and/or erythropoietin therapy. We assessed the effects of these anemia management strategies on rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) and safety.MethodsPatients (n = 687) received 4 weeks of peginterferon and ribavirin followed by 24 or 44 weeks of boceprevir (800 mg, 3 times each day) plus peginterferon and ribavirin. Patients who became anemic (levels of hemoglobin approximately ≤10 g/dL) during the study treatment period (n = 500) were assigned to groups that were managed by ribavi…
The Shwartzman reaction repealed
2007
The article, “ -Galactosylceramide induces protection against lipopolysaccharide-induced shock” (doi:10.1189/jlb.0506298), was selected as a Pivotal Advance because the results suggest that -galactosylceramide ( GalCer), a glycolipid isolated from marine sponges, can protect against the complete morbidity and mortality characterisitic of endotoxin shock by inducing NKT cells to produce TH2 cytokines.
Metalloproteases meprin α and meprin β are C- and N-procollagen proteinases important for collagen assembly and tensile strength.
2013
Type I fibrillar collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, crucial for the formation and strength of bones, skin, and tendon. Proteolytic enzymes are essential for initiation of the assembly of collagen fibrils by cleaving off the propeptides. We report that Mep1a −/− and Mep1b −/− mice revealed lower amounts of mature collagen I compared with WT mice and exhibited significantly reduced collagen deposition in skin, along with markedly decreased tissue tensile strength. While exploring the mechanism of this phenotype, we found that cleavage of full-length human procollagen I heterotrimers by either meprin α or meprin β led to the generation of mature collagen molecules that s…
Hepatocyte-targeted fluorescent nanoparticles based on a polyaspartamide for potential theranostic applications
2015
Abstract Here, the synthesis of a galactosylated amphiphilic copolymer bearing rhodamine (RhB) moieties and its use for the preparation of polymeric fluorescent nanoparticles for potential applications in therapy and diagnosis are described. To do this, firstly, a fluorescent derivative of α,β-poly( N -2-hydroxyethyl)- d , l -aspartamide (PHEA) was synthesized by chemical reaction with RhB, and with polylactic acid (PLA), to obtain PHEA-RhB-PLA. Then, the derivatization of PHEA-RhB-PLA with GAL-PEG-NH 2 allows obtaining PHEA-RhB-PLA-PEG-GAL copolymer, with derivatization degrees in -PLA and -PEG-GAL equal to 1.9 mol% and 4.5 mol%, respectively. Starting from this copolymer, liver-targeted f…
Nanovectorization of TRAIL with single wall carbon nanotubes enhances tumor cell killing
2015
International audience; Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL or Apo2L) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. This type II transmembrane protein is able to bound specifically to cancer cell receptors (i.e., TRAIL-R1 (or DR4) and TRAIL-R2 (or DR5)) and to induce apoptosis without being toxic for healthy cells. Because membrane-bound TRAIL induces stronger receptor aggregation and apoptosis than soluble TRAIL, we proposed here to vectorize TRAIL using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) to mimic membrane TRAIL. Owing to their exceptional and revolutional properties, carbon nanotubes, especially SWCNTs, are used in a wide range of physical or,…
Dendritic Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for pH-Stimuli-Responsive Drug Delivery of TNF-Alpha
2017
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a pleiotropic immune stimulatory cytokine and natural endotoxin that can induce necrosis and regression in solid tumors. However, systemic administration of TNF-α is not feasible due to its short half-life and acute toxicity, preventing its widespread use in cancer treatment. Dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSN) are used coated with a pH-responsive block copolymer gate system combining charged hyperbranched polyethylenimine and nonionic hydrophilic polyethylenglycol to encapsulate TNF-α and deliver it into various cancer cell lines and dendritic cells. Half-maximal effective concentration (EC50 ) for loaded TNF-α is reduced by more than two…
We need more replication research – A case for test-retest reliability
2017
Following debates in psychology on the importance of replication research, we have also started to see pleas for a more prominent role for replication research in medical education. To enable replication research, it is of paramount importance to carefully study the reliability of the instruments we use. Cronbach’s alpha has been the most widely used estimator of reliability in the field of medical education, notably as some kind of quality label of test or questionnaire scores based on multiple items or of the reliability of assessment across exam stations. However, as this narrative review outlines, Cronbach’s alpha or alternative reliability statistics may complement but not replace psyc…
Acceptance and validity of the methods used to implement a competency based medical education programme in an Intensive Care Department of a teaching…
2021
Abstract Objectives 1. To determine the satisfaction of tutors and residents with a specific methodology used to implement CoBaTrICE. 2. To determine the reliability and validity of the global rating scales designed ad hoc to assess the performance of the residents for training purposes. Design Prospective cohort study. Participants All the residents and tutors of the ICU Department of the Hospital Universitario y Politecnico la Fe de Valencia. Intervention CoBaTrICE implementation started in March 2016, it was based on: (1) Training the tutors in feedback techniques; (2) Performing multiple objective and structured work based assessments to achieve the competences of the program; and (3) T…
Validación de un cuestionario para evaluar el funcionamiento de las bibliotecas escolares
2018
La biblioteca escolar ha adquirido en los últimos años un nuevo protagonismo, convirtiéndose en un espacio de aprendizaje fundamental para la enseñanza de las distintas áreas y materias y el fomento de competencias en el alumnado. El objetivo de este trabajo es validar un cuestionario diseñado ad hoc para evaluar el funcionamiento y las formas de uso e incorporación de la biblioteca escolar a la actividad pedagógica diaria. Para ello se aplicó el cuestionario a una muestra aleatoria de 4.177 alumnas y alumnos de 358 centros de Educación Primaria, Secundaria y Postobligatoria, se calculó su fiabilidad mediante la prueba de Alfa de Cronbach y se realizó un análisis factorial exploratorio. Los…
Helps from flipped classroom in learning suturing skill: The medical students' perspective.
2018
Background Today, flipped classroom (FC) has been widely used in medical education. However, the effectiveness of FC remains controversial. The variation may cause by different subjects or different course design. Moreover, those studies did not explain how the association among different domains of learning objective was in FCs. The purpose of this study was to explore the help of learning domains from a FC of suturing skill in year-5 medical students. Design This study determined sample size according to statistical power. A minimum number of 77 participants for regression analysis are needed. Therefore, this study enrolled 78 medical students in a 2-hour suturing course, which consisted …