322,940 research outputs found
Fatal hepatic decompensation in a bone marrow transplant recipient with HBV-related cirrhosis following lamivudine withdrawal.
No full textLamivudine is a nucleoside analogue with a potent antiviral activity used as prophylaxis against hepatitis B virus reactivation in patients with chronic HBV infection receiving chemotherapy. No standard guidelines exist, however, for the duration of lamivudine treatment. We report a clinical case of a 56-year-old patient with HBeAg-negative cirrhosis who developed a multiple myeloma. He was treated with lamivudine for 1 year while receiving chemotherapy and a subsequent bone marrow transplant. Complete remission from multiple myeloma was achieved. Four months after lamivudine was withdrawn, he experienced HBV reactivation with jaundice, though no YMDD mutations were detected. The patient rapidly developed fatal decompensation with septicemia and renal failure. In conclusion, this case shows that physicians should avoid discontinuing nucleoside therapy in patients with HBV infection who undergo immunosuppression for concomitant neoplastic conditions
Colchicine in chronic hepatitis B: a pilot study
No full textAbstract: Rationale: Because of its antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects, colchicine has been proposed as a treatment for liver disease. Early in vitro studies have demonstrated that colchicine blocks mitosis in the metaphase and inhibits DNA synthesis.
Aim: A pilot study of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related/HBV-DNA+ve chronic liver disease.
Patients: Nine biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis patients (three with cirrhosis) entered the study. Two of them were HBeAg+ve and seven were antiHBe(+). All patients were HBV-DNA+ve/antiHBc IgM+ve (index values of anti-HBc IgM ranged from 0.370 to 1.200). All of them had a major contraindication to interferon therapy or refused antiviral treatment. The known persistence of positive HBsAg ranged from 2 to 21 years.
Methods: After informed consent, the patients received 1 mg colchicine a day orally for 5 days-a-week over 6 months. Testing for liver enzymes and viral markers was performed at the baseline and after 3 and 6 months.
Results: None of the patients experienced side-effects during the treatment. The two HBeAg+ve patients seroconverted to anti-HBe with a normalization of AST/ALT during therapy. Among the seven antiHBe+ve patients, four had a complete normalization of transaminases (one patient cleared the HBsAg with seroconversion to anti-HBs). Six of the nine patients were HBV-DNA-ve at the end of therapy and were still negative after 12 months of follow-up.
Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest that colchicine might have an antiviral activity in HBV-DNA+ve chronic liver disease, and it could be regarded as an alternative therapy to interferon
pH-Sensitive Ru(II) bis(2,2':6'2"-terpyridine) complexes: a DFT/TDDFT investigation of their spectroscopic properties
No full textWe report a DFT/TDDFT study on the geometric, electronic and optical properties of [Ru{4'-(4-pyridyl)-2,2':6',2"-terpyridine}2]2+. Because of the presence of the basic nitrogen atom on the terminal pyridyl ligands, in solution the complex can exist in three different protonation states depending on the pH, each with markedly different photophysical properties. We investigated the effect of protonation of the terminal pyridine groups on the electronic and optical properties of this RuII complex. TDDFT calculations in vacuo and aqueous solution were performed, finding good agreement between the simulated and the experimental absorption spectra, and reproducing the experimentally observed absorption redshift upon pyridine protonation. The calculated excited-state data provide a rationale for the luminescence properties observed by varying the solution pH, in terms of the different energy separation between MLCT and MC excited states in the complexes
Design of Ru(II) sensitizers endowed by three anchoring units for adsorption mode and light harvesting optimization
No full textWe report the design, synthesis and computational investigation of a class of Ru(II)-dyes based on mixed bipyridine ligands for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. These dyes are designed to preserve the optimal anchoring mode of the prototypical N719 sensitizer by three carboxylic groups, yet allowing for tunable optimization of their electronic and optical properties by selective substitution at one of the 4-4′ positions of a single bipyridine ligand with π-excessive heteroaromatic groups. We used Density Functional Theory/Time Dependent Density Functional Theory calculations to analyze the electronic structure and optical properties of the dye and to investigate the dye adsorption mode on a TiO2 nanoparticle model. Our results show that we are effectively able to introduce three carboxylic anchoring units into the dye and achieve at the same time an enhanced dye light harvesting, demonstrating the design concept. As a drawback of this type of dyes, the synthesis leads to a mixture of dye isomers, which are rather tedious to separate
Viral kinetics during the first weeks of pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment can identify patients at risk of relapse after its discontinuation: new strategies for such patients?
No full textBackground Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin is the most effective treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) hepatitis, but the rate of sustained virological response (SVR) remains approximately 50%, and 15-20% of all treated patients have a virological relapse after completing the treatment. Studies on the SVR have failed to discriminate between non-responders and relapsers. Aims To identify the risk factors for relapse among patients with an end-of-treatment response (ETR). Methods We retrospectively analyzed 281 patients consecutively treated with PEG-IFN and ribavirin with a follow- up period of at least 24 weeks. The baseline details collected on each patient included demographic data, histological features, and biochemical profiles. Results Forty-six patients (16.4%) relapsed during the first 6 months of follow-up after discontinuing the therapy. Relapser patients were significantly older, had more steatosis, fibrosis, and showed significantly lower rapid virological response (RVR) rates compared with SVR patients. By logistic regression analysis, only the absence of RVR was found to be significantly associated with relapses in both subgroups of patients with genotypes 1 and 4 (p\0.004) and those with genotypes 2 and 3 (p\0.006). Severe fibrosis was also predictive of relapsing disease, but only for genotypes 2 and 3 patients (p\0.003). During the treatment, serum HCV-RNA decreased more rapidly in patients with SVR compared to non-responder and relapser patients (p\0.001). Interestingly, relapser patients exhibited an intermediate serum HCV-RNA decay during the first 4 weeks of therapy. Conclusion Among HCV patients treated with PEG-IFN and ribavirin, the absence of RVR was the most important independent predictor of relapse, independent of the HCV genotype. In the subgroup of genotypes 2 and 3 patients, the severity of fibrosis was also an important factor associated with the relapse rate. ©p Springer-Verlag 2011
Birth, development, and efficacy of a therapeutic group for young alcohol abusers
No full textTherapeutic group is an elective tool to treat alcohol abuse problems (Christie, Cheethan & Lubman, 2020), which often involves young patients with an inadequate capacity for emotional self-regulation (Martins et al., 2018). This contribution presents some qualitative and quantitative data on process and outcome analysis of a therapeutic group with young patients in an outpatient service, to highlight how the group becomes a context of affective investment, with repercussions on emotional regulation and craving management. It will also be discussed how some significant elements "nascent phase" and "Community of brothers" phase in group development process (Neri2017) correlate with outcome
Diffusive author(s), cohesive author: Analysis of S/N (1994)
No full textThis study indicates the ways in which various aspects of the author(s) are brought forth in Dumb type’s performance art, the S/N production. Previous research has suggested a non-hierarchical organization of Dumb type and the absence of a “privileged author” in Dumb type’s collaborative work, S/N. However, the results that I have investigated from member’s interviews on the creative process of S/N along with my analysis of the recorded images of S/N, indicate a different aspect of the author(s). First, S/N was created through, so to speak, the collective ideas of the members of Dumb type. Further, S/N has at least nine quotations from previous performances, installations, and printed writings, besides the work-in-progress technique. Explicating one of the “author functions” as given by Michel Foucault, each text has plural subjects of the author. However, it has been revealed from members’ interviews that Teiji Furuhashi had a decision-making role in selecting the members’ ideas within the performance. Since then, S/N has had plural subjects of creation; however, Furuhashi is one of the subjects of creation along with the “privileged author.” S/N has plural authors (diffusive authors) yet at the same time, it has a “privileged author,” Teiji Furuhashi (cohesive author)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Interferon treatment in hepatitis B surface antigen-positive hepatitis B e antibody-positive chronic hepatitis B: role of hepatitis B core antibody IgM titre in patient selection and treatment monitoring
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