Intensified peginterferon α-2a dosing increases sustained virologic response rates in heavy, high viral load hepatitis c genotype 1 patients with high low-density lipoprotein

BACKGROUND AND GOAL: Patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) with elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels achieve higher sustained virologic response (SVR) rates after peginterferon (PegIFN)/ribavirin treatment versus patients with lower LDL. Our aim was to determine whether SVR rates in patients with low/elevated LDL can be improved by dose intensification. STUDY: In PROGRESS, genotype 1 patients with baseline HCV RNA≥400,000 IU/mL and body weight ≥85 kg were randomized to 48 weeks of 180 μg/wk PegIFN α-2a (40 kDa) plus ribavirin (A: 1200 mg/d; B: 1400/1600 mg/d) or 12 weeks of 360 μg/wk PegIFN α-2a followed by 36 weeks of 180 μg/wk, plus ribavirin (C: 1200 mg/d; D: 1400/1600 mg/d). This retrospective analysis assessed SVR rates among patients with low (<100 mg/dL) or elevated (≥100 mg/dL) LDL. Patients with high LDL (n=256) had higher baseline HCV RNA (5.86×10 IU/mL) versus patients with low LDL (n=262; 4.02×10 IU/mL; P=0.0003). RESULTS: Multiple logistic regression analysis identified a significant interaction between PegIFN α-2a dose and LDL levels on SVR (P=0.0193). The only treatment-related SVR predictor in the nested multiple logistic regression was PegIFN α-2a dose among patients with elevated LDL (P=0.0074); therefore, data from the standard (A+B) and induction (C+D) dose arms were pooled. Among patients with low LDL, SVR rates were 40% and 35% in the standard and induction-dose groups, respectively; SVR rates in patients with high LDL were 44% and 60% (P=0.014), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Intensified dosing of PegIFN α-2a increases SVR rates in patients with elevated LDL even with the difficult-to-cure characteristics of genotype 1, high baseline viral load, and high body weight. Copyright © 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Ablation of the ability to control the right-to-left cardiac shunt does not affect oxygen uptake, specific dynamic action or growth in the rattlesnake Crotalus durissus

The morphologically undivided ventricle of the heart in non-crocodilian reptiles permits the mixing of oxygen-rich blood returning from the lungs and oxygen-poor blood from the systemic circulation. A possible functional significance for this intra-cardiac shunt has been debated for almost a century. Unilateral left vagotomy rendered the single effective pulmonary artery of the South American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus, unable to adjust the magnitude of blood flow to the lung. The higher constant perfusion of the lung circulation and the incapability of adjusting the right-left shunt in left-denervated snakes persisted over time, providing a unique model for investigation of the long-term consequences of cardiac shunting in a squamate. Oxygen uptake recorded at rest and during spontaneous and forced activity was not affected by removing control of the cardiac shunt. Furthermore, metabolic rate and energetic balance during the post-prandial metabolic increment, plus the food conversion efficiency and growth rate, were all similarly unaffected. These results show that control of cardiac shunting is not associated with a clear functional advantage in adjusting metabolic rate, effectiveness of digestion or growth rates. © 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Scaling invariance of the diffusion coefficient in a family of two-dimensional Hamiltonian mappings

We consider a family of two-dimensional nonlinear area-preserving mappings that generalize the Chirikov standard map and model a variety of periodically forced systems. The action variable diffuses in increments whose phase is controlled by a negative power of the action and hence effectively uncorrelated for small actions, leading to a chaotic sea in phase space. For larger values of the action the phase space is mixed and contains a family of elliptic islands centered on periodic orbits and invariant Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) curves. The transport of particles along the phase space is considered by starting an ensemble of particles with a very low action and letting them evolve in the phase until they reach a certain height h. For chaotic orbits below the periodic islands, the survival probability for the particles to reach h is characterized by an exponential function, well modeled by the solution of the diffusion equation. On the other hand, when h reaches the position of periodic islands, the diffusion slows markedly. We show that the diffusion coefficient is scaling invariant with respect to the control parameter of the mapping when h reaches the position of the lowest KAM island. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Informe de la Cuarta Conferencia Regional sobre la Integración de la Mujer en el Desarrollo Economico y Social de América Latina y el Caribe

Contiene organizacion de los trabajos, resumen de los debates, conclusiones y recomendaciones de la reunion que tuvo por objetivo evaluar lo realizado en cumplimiento del Plan de Accion Regional sobre la Integracion de la Mujer en el Desarrollo Economico y Social de America Latina a la luz de las estrategias de Nairobi y considerando el impacto de la crisis sobre la situacion de las mujeres.

Report of the Fourth Regional Conference on the Integration of Women into the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean

La versión en español fue publicada en 1988

Ergodic crossover in partially self-avoiding stochastic walks

Consider a one-dimensional environment with N randomly distributed sites. An agent explores this random medium moving deterministically with a spatial memory μ. A crossover from local to global exploration occurs in one dimension at a well-defined memory value μ1=log2N. In its stochastic version, the dynamics is ruled by the memory and by temperature T, which affects the hopping displacement. This dynamics also shows a crossover in one dimension, obtained computationally, between exploration schemes, characterized yet by the trajectory size (Np) (aging effect). In this paper we provide an analytical approach considering the modified stochastic version where the parameter T plays the role of a maximum hopping distance. This modification allows us to obtain a general analytical expression for the crossover, as a function of the parameters μ, T, and Np. Differently from what has been proposed by previous studies, we find that the crossover occurs in any dimension d. These results have been validated by numerical experiments and may be of great value for fixing optimal parameters in search algorithms. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Histologic Characterization of Engineered Tissues in the Canal Space of Closed-apex Teeth with Apical Periodontitis

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the capacity of endodontic regenerative procedures combining an induced blood clot, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and bone marrow aspirate (BMA) to regenerate dental pulp in canine closed-apex necrotic teeth. Methods: Apical periodontitis was induced in 20 upper and lower premolars of 2 dogs. After biomechanical preparation, enlargement to a #60 file, and disinfection with a triantibiotic paste for 28 days, the roots were randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups: blood clot (BC), BC + PRP gel, BC + BMA gel, and BC + BMA/PRP gel. Negative controls were also included. After a 3-month follow-up period, the animals were killed. Results: Histologic analysis showed the presence of newly formed vital tissues (connective, cement-like, and bone-like tissue) in 23 of the 32 treated roots (71.87%). There was no statistically significant difference between the treatment groups. Conclusions: New vital tissues were formed and characterized as connective, cementum-like, or bone-like, but not as pulp-like tissue; PRP and/or BMA did not improve the tissue ingrowth. © 2013 American Association of Endodontists.

Características del Istmo Centroamericano y la República Dominicana que podrían afectar su participación en el Area de Libre Comercio de las Américas (ALCA) = Characteristics of the Central American Isthmus and the Dominican Republic which might affect their participation in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)

Incluye Bibliografía

Concentrações plasmática e peritoneal de proteínas de fase aguda em bezerros portadores de hérnias umbilicais

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Instrumentos económicos para la gestión ambiental en Chile: diagnóstico y propuestas para el recurso forestal, las obras de riego, el recurso suelo y la biodiversidad

Incluye Bibliografía

Diagnóstico de falhas via observadores de estado com excitações desconhecidas, identificadas via funções ortogonais

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Produção de poligalacturonases por fungos termofílicos e mesofílicos em fermentação em estado sólido e comparação das isoformas da enzima produzidas por cada grupo

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)