118,707 research outputs found
A Decade of Trials of Interferon-Alpha for Chronic Hepatitis C. A Meta-Regression Analysis
No full textThe most relevant randomized controlled trials of interferon-alpha (IFN) for naive patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) published in a decade, just before appearance of pegylated IFN trials in 2000, were included in this paper. Its purpose is to review the relationship between sustained biochemical response in active versus control group versus usual clinical variables as IFN regimens, cirrhosis, genotype and versus less frequently addressed variables as funding, methodological quality or location of principal author. Meta-analysis estimates of global treatment effect varied according to trial design: group 1=IFN versus placebo/no treatment, 32 RCTs, 2499 pts, OR 9.5 (6.3-14.2); group 2a=comparison of IFN schedules, 43 RCTs, 7454 pts, OR 1.6 (1.4-1.9); group 2b=IFN+other drugs versus standard IFN, 30 RCTs, 4737 pts, OR 2.0 (1.6-2.6). Fixed effects (arm-level) meta-regression on the complete data set (171 arms, 10,580 pts) revealed that sustained response was most likely in experimental arms of IFN+ribavirin or other drugs (OR 2.4), arms using yearly schedule (OR 2.0), trial principal author from Asia (OR 1.7), trial sample size >200 (OR 1.4) and arms enrolling less than 50% of cirrhotics (OR 1.3). Moreover, focus was on some significant interactions too, as the effect of trial''s quality interacting to the recorded funding (more benefit if no-profit, less if for-profit) and the effect of trial funding interacting to the location of first author (more benefit if from Asia). Three main effects (experimental arm, cirrhosis, funding) and one interaction (funding*location of principal author) explained 31% of between study variability in a random-effect meta-regression. In a subgroup analysis on a data set including available information on HCV genotype (93 arms, around 7000 pts), meta-regression revealed that genotype 1 or 4 less than 50% per arm and specialistic journal were significant predictors of either biochemical (transaminases) or virological (HCV-RNA) sustained response, in a model including the same main effects identified in the complete data set analysis. Finally, although mostly captured by different IFN regimens along time, heterogeneity of effect in a large set of (not-pegylated) IFN trials was also explained by HCV genotype and variables of quality and reporting, such as trial''s principal author from Asia
Porous silicon templates for superconducting devices
No full textThe use of porous silicon (PS) templates in the field of superconducting nanoelectronics is reviewed.We focus on the influence of the morphology of the pores (porosity, average pore diameter) on the superconducting properties of ultrathin films deposited on these templates. We describe and discuss some basic and advanced properties of the obtained nanostructured superconductors. In particular, we show that, due to the extremely reduced dimensions of PS templates, the formation of commensurate vortex structures can be realized at low temperatures and at matching fields as high as μ0H1≈ 1 T. We also show that with this fabrication procedure, we can obtain networks of one-dimensional superconducting nanowires, which exhibit features typical of quantum phase slip (QPS) phenomena. This creates preconditions for the development and implementation of new highly sensitive radiation detectors, magnetometers, QPS qubits, QPS transistors, and quantum current standards
Lettere riguardanti il "Treatise" e l' "Abstract"
No full textLettere (alcune inedite) riguardanti la ostile ricezione del "Treatise" e la decisione di Hume di pubblicarne un "Abstract". La corrispondenza tra Hume e H. Home, F. Hutcheson, G. Elliot e altri, tocca anche alcuni tra i temi più "spinosi" del "Treatise"
'Divenire-animale' e 'lingua minore' in Anna Maria Ortese
No full textIl contributo intende mettere a dialogo due concetti della filosofia di Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari, quello di ‘divenire-animale’ e di ‘letteratura minore’, con la scrittura di Anna Maria Ortese. Si parte dalla messa in discussione della nozione di identità, per giungere infine a mostrare come nel romanzo L’Iguana assistiamo sia al divenire-animale (nell’incontro fra il conte Daddo e Estrellita) sia all’utilizzo della lingua minore (da parte della scrittrice e dell’iguana)
Parità di trattamento e rapporti tra imprese
No full textLa questione della giustizia nel contratto è da sempre uno dei temi più dibattuti in dottrina. Un problema di giustizia contrattuale si pone anche in relazione ai contratti conclusi dall’impresa, sia con altre imprese, sia con i consumatori. In particolare, l’attenzione è posta su quello specifico “fallimento” del mercato costituito dall’assenza nel medesimo di valide alternative che costringe i contraenti c.d. “deboli” ad accettare condizioni contrattuali per loro eccessivamente squilibrate. Un rimedio a siffatto “fallimento” può essere forse ricavato dalle norme che disciplinano, rispettivamente, l’abuso di posizione dominante e quello di dipendenza economica, le quali possono considerarsi punto di emersione del più generale principio della parità di trattamento. All’approfondimento di tali tematiche, con particolare riguardo all’importante ruolo che può assumere la parità di trattamento nei contratti squilibrati conclusi dalle imprese e dei conseguenti risvolti applicativi, è dedicato il presente lavoro.Contractual justice is one of the most debated issues in law of contracts doctrine. B2B or B2C contracts may give rise to such kind of issues. Indeed, a peculiar market failure situation occurs when weak contractual counter¬parties are forced to agree on excessively unbalanced contractual terms due to lack of access to any alternative on the market. Article 3 of the “antitrust-law” (l. n. 287/1990) and article 9 of the so-called “sub-supplying law” (l. n. 192/1998) can provide a remedy for such failures. It is possible to appreciate how the mentioned articles are able to express a broader principle of “equal treatment”. This work aims at a better understanding of the above issues, pay¬ing a specific attention to the principle of equal treatment and its functional role in B2B or B2C contracts with asymmetric bargaining power
- …
