339 research outputs found
The growth of private hospitals and their health workforce in China: a comparison with public hospitals
No full textBackground: China significantly opened its healthcare market through a series of market-opening policies in 2000–1. This study aims to explore the direct consequences of these policies—the growth of private hospitals, their workforce characteristics compared with public hospitals in China and the source of their healthcare workforce.Methods: first, we performed a segmented regression analysis of a longitudinal data series of the number of hospitals in China between 1990 and 2009 to examine the before and after effects of the market-opening policy on private hospitals. Then, to highlight the workforce differences between private and public hospitals, provincial survey data collected in 2009 were compared with data from a second database collected in 2002 to detect the mobility of medical staff from the public to the private hospitals.Results: the number of private hospitals rapidly increased after 2001, and the yearly growth rate increased from 19 to 205, represented primarily by an increase in specialty hospitals. Approximately 22.03% of the physicians in private hospitals are over the age of 60, whereas this proportion in public hospitals is only 2.97%. In 2008, at least 4.1% of the staff working in private hospitals had previously worked in local public hospitals in 2001.Conclusion: the broad expansion of private hospitals since 2001 is most likely the result of an unbiased market policy environment for private hospitals. Moreover, specific features of the hospital–physician relationship in China may account for the unbalanced age distribution feature among doctors and the mobility of the healthcare workforce in private hospitals
Immunostimulatory monoclonal antibodies for cancer therapy
No full textIncreasing immune responses with immunostimulatory monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed to immune-receptor molecules is a new and exciting strategy in cancer therapy. This expanding class of agents functions on crucial receptors, either antagonizing those that suppress immune responses or activating others that amplify immune responses. Complications such as autoimmunity and systemic inflammation are problematic side effects associated with these agents. However, promising synergy has been observed in preclinical models using combinations of immunostimulatory antibodies and other immunotherapy strategies or conventional cancer therapies. Importantly, mAbs of this type have now entered clinical trials with encouraging initial result
Calligrafia d’avanguardia e arte astratta nella Cina contemporanea. L’“arte astratta calligrafica” di Pu Lieping, Wei Ligang, Chen Guangwu, Shao Yan, Luo Qi e Fung Ming Chip e l’“espressionismo astratto calligrafico” di Qin Feng e Zhang Dawo
No full textDelle maggiori tendenze che caratterizzano oggi l’evolversi dell’arte calligrafica in Cina, la calligrafia d’avanguardia, nata a partire dalla metà degli anni ottanta, è senz’altro la più innovativa e sperimentale. All’interno di questa variegata corrente, fortemente influenzata dall’arte moderna occidentale, il filone più prolifico è quello che tenta di fondere la tecnica e l’estetica calligrafica alla nozione ‘astratta’ del segno grafico di derivazione occidentale. Da questo connubio nascono le sperimentazioni di molti artisti-calligrafi contemporanei che producono opere che si collocano a metà tra l’arte della calligrafia e l’arte astratta, compartecipando di entrambe e non esaurendosi in nessuna di esse. Il segno calligrafico cessa di essere connesso a un sistema linguistico significante, e diviene primaria la contemplazione della bellezza astratta della linea calligrafica o del gesto espressivo che l’ha prodotta. Nel primo caso, si può parlare di “arte astratta calligrafica”, come nelle opere di Pu Lieping, Wei Ligang, Chen Guangwu, Shao Yan, Luo Qi e Fung Ming Chip; nel secondo caso, invece, di “espressionismo astratto calligrafico”, come nelle opere di Qin Feng e Zhang Dawo. Distaccandosi dal sistema di scrittura dei caratteri cinesi, le opere di questi artisti possono dunque essere comprensibili universalmente e collocarsi all’interno di un contesto artistico globale. Tale evento, inedito nella storia della calligrafia cinese, ha permesso di rivitalizzare e modernizzare un’arte millenaria e monolitica come la calligrafia cinese, attualizzandola e internazionalizzandola
PD-1, PD-L1 (B7-H1) and Tumor-Site Immune Modulation Therapy: The Historical Perspective
No full textAbstract The current success of targeted inhibition against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and Programmed Death 1/Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1, herein collectively referred to as PD) pathways is hailed as a cancer immunotherapy breakthrough. PD-L1, known also as B7 homolog 1 (B7-H1), was initially discovered by Dr. Lieping Chen in 1999. To recognize the seminal contributions by Chen to the development of PD-directed therapy against cancer, the Chinese American Hematologist and Oncologist Network (CAHON) decided to honor him with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in Hematology and Oncology at the CAHON’s 2015 annual meeting. This essay chronicles the important discoveries made by Chen in the exciting field of immuno-oncology, which goes beyond his original fateful finding. It also argues that PD-directed therapy should be appropriately considered as Tumor-Site Immune Modulation Therapy to distinguish it from CTLA-4-based immune checkpoint blocking agents
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