The presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers was investigated in 170 patients (137 male, 33 female) infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. Antibodies to the hepatitis ...B core antigen (anti-HBc antibodies) were detected in 115 (68%) patients. Of these 115, 14 (12%) were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive, 60 (52%) presented anti-HBs antibodies, and 41 (35%) were anti-HBc positive only. All 115 of the anti-HBc positive samples were tested for HBV DNA by using two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays that amplify the core and pre-S regions of the HBV genome, respectively. HBV DNA was detected in 23 samples: 7 of 14 (50%) HBsAg-positive samples, 12 of 60 (20%) anti-HBs-positive samples, and 4 of 41 (10%) samples positive for anti-HBc only. Six samples (all HBsAg positive) were positive in both PCR assays and 17 samples were HBV DNA positive in only one assay. The mean viral load in HBsAg-positive patients was higher than that observed in HBsAg-negative patients. A number of patients were receiving treatment with lamivudine, a drug that interferes with both HBV and HIV replication. However, neither the rate of HBV DNA positivity nor HBV load was significantly different between patients treated with lamivudine and those not treated with this drug.
We have evaluated the efficacy and safety of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for recurrent glioma and malignant brain tumor using a new protocol. One of the two patients enrolled in this trial ...is a man with recurrent glioblastoma and the other is a woman with anaplastic meningioma. Both are still alive and no severe adverse events have been observed. Our findings suggest that NCT will be safe as a palliative therapy for malignant brain tumors.
► Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for recurrent glioma and malignant brain tumor. ► Two cases with recurrent glioblastoma and anaplastic meningioma. ► No severe adverse events have been observed using BNCT. ► BNCT has a possibility of a safe palliative therapy for malignant brain tumors.
Simultaneous photometric and polarimetric observations of asteroid 3 Juno have been carried out with a low-resolution spectropolarimeter HBS at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory from 2000 August 4 to ...8. The amplitude of the light curve was 0.14 mag with almost the same brightness maxima and 0.10 mag different minima. Polarimetric data showed one maximum and minimum in the absolute values of polarization degree |Pr |, and the difference attained 0.149% in the V band. The minimum of |Pr | appeared around the second minimum of the light curve, which means that a bright area exists on the surface of 3 Juno. We found that the values of |Pr | tend to increase 0.1%-0.2% with wavelength, and this result is consistent with the general tendency of S-type asteroids. In addition, we might find that the increase rate of |Pr | is steeper in wavelengths longer than 7000 A. From the variation of polarization degree with the rotation of 3 Juno, we estimated the albedo of the bright area with a simple model and obtained a range of 0.19-0.41.
The anti-HCV antibody response has not been well characterized during the early phase of HCV infection and little is known about its relationship to the clinical course during this period.
We ...analyzed serial anti-HCV antibodies longitudinally obtained from a prospective cohort of 65 patients with acute HCV infection by using a microparticle enzyme immunoassay AxSYM HCV 3.0 (Abbott Diagnostics) during the first 12 months from HCV acquisition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Spontaneous viral clearance (SVC) was defined as undetectable HCV RNA in serum, in the absence of treatment, for three consecutive HCV PCR tests within 12-months of follow-up.
Baseline antibody values were similar among patient groups with self-limiting HCV evolution (n = 34) and persistent viremia (n = 31) median (interquartile range) signal/cut-off ratio (s/co) 78.7 (60.7-93.8) vs. 93.9 (67.8-111.9), p = 0.26. During 12-months follow-up, patients with acute spontaneous resolving HCV infection showed significantly lower serial antibody response in comparison to individuals progressing to chronic infection median (interquartile range) s/co 62.7 (35.2-85.0) vs. 98.4 (70.4-127.4), p < 0.0001. In addition, patients with self-limiting HCV evolution exhibited an expeditious, sharp decline of serial antibody values after SVC in comparison to those measured before SVC median (interquartile range) s/co 56.0 (25.4-79.3) vs. 79.4 (66.3-103.0), p < 0.0001.
Our findings indicate a rapid short-term decline of antibody values in patients with acute spontaneous resolving HCV infection.
•A new technology to eliminate springback by bottom pushing-up has been proposed.•Clamping of sheet plays an important role to improve the flatness of the part.•Optimium clamping and bottom ...pushing-up forces were determined.•For tool desgn, it is important to have an enough deep hollow on the punch head.•Mechanism of killing springback in this process has been clarified.
This study proposes a new technique to eliminate the springback of high-strength steel (HSS) sheets in the U-bending process. In this technique, the bottom plate is additionally bent with a counter punch at the final stage of the U-bending process. In an experiment, a flat-headed punch with a shallow hollow on the punch head was employed in combination with a counter punch. The U-bending process consists of four sequential steps: (1) clamping of a sheet between a punch and a counter punch, (2) U-bending under a constant clamping force, (3) bottom pushing-up by the counter punch, and (4) final unloading process. From the experiment on a 980Y HSS sheet, an appropriate combination of the clamping force and the final bottom pushing-up force that eliminates springback entirely was found. To investigate the mechanism of the reduction in springback in this process, an FE simulation of this process was conducted using the Yoshida–Uemori model, an advanced kinematic hardening model. The simulation result showed that the major mechanism of springback elimination is the “spring-go” induced by the release of the negative bending moment generated by bottom pushing-up.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been a significant problem for hemodialysis
patients. However this infection has declined in regions where the
screening for anti-HCV in blood banks and ...hemodialysis-specific
infection control measures were adopted. In Brazil, these measures were
implemented in 1993 and 1996, respectively. In addition, all studied
units have implemented isolation of anti-HCV positive patients since
2000. In order to evaluate the impact of these policies in the HCV
infection prevalence, accumulated incidence, and risk factors in
hemodialysis population of Goiânia City, Central Brazil, all
patients were interviewed and serum samples tested for HCV antibodies
in 1993, 1996, 1999, and 2002. In the first six years (1993-1999),
anti-HCV prevalence increased from 28.2 to 37.2%, however a strong
decrease in positivity was detected between 1999 and 2002 (37.8 vs
16.5%) when the measures were fully implemented. Also, a decrease of
the anti-HCV accumulated incidence in cohorts of susceptible
individuals during 1993-2002 (71%), 1996-2002 (34.2%), and 1999-2002
(11.7%) was found. Analysis of risk factors showed that length of time
on hemodialysis, blood transfusion before screening for anti-HCV and
treatment in multiple units were statistically associated with anti-HCV
(p < 0.05). Our study showed a significant decline of hepatitis C
infection in hemodialysis patients of Central Brazil, ratifying the
importance of public health strategies for control and prevention of
hepatitis C in the hemodialysis units.
In neutron capture therapy, it is important that the boron is selectively uptaken by tumor cells. In the present study, we used flow cytometry to sort the cells in the G0/G1 phase and those in the ...G2/M phase, and the boron concentration in each fraction was measured with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The results revealed that sodium borocaptate and boronophenylalanine (BPA), were associated with higher rates of boron uptake in the G2/M than in the G0/G1 phase. However, the difference was more prominent in the case of BPA. The G2/M:G0/G1 ratio decreased as a function of exposure time in BPA containing culture medium, thereby indicating the cell cycle dependency of BPA uptake. Such heterogeneity of boron uptake by tumor cells should be considered for microdosimetry.
This paper presents a constitutive model that has a high capability of describing the deformation behavior of large-strain cyclic plasticity and also the stress–strain responses at small-scale ...re-yielding after large prestrain. A new equation of backstress evolution is proposed for an accurate simulation of the transient Bauschinger effect. Furthermore, an original idea of a non-isotropic-hardening surface defined in the stress space is presented for the description of the workhardening stagnation appearing under reverse deformation, as well as the strain-range and mean-strain dependencies of cyclic hardening characteristics. The validity of this model is confirmed by comparing the cyclic stress–strain responses calculated by the model with the experimental observations on some steel sheets and an aluminum sheet.
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