Search

Background. Cisplatin and carboplatin cause nephrotoxicity by forming platinum-DNA adducts and lead to cell death. Methods. One-hundred and sixteen Taiwanese lung cancer patients who received cisplatin or carboplatin more than twice were recruited, and their genotypes were determined. The risk of renal dysfunction, injury to the kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function, and end-stage kidney disease (RIFLE) criteriawere used to evaluate the occurrence of nephrotoxicity. Alogistic regression, multiple regression with a classification and regression tree (CART), and the Framingham study risk score were used to analyze interactions between genetic and nongenetic factors in producing platinum-induced nephrotoxicity. Results. ERCC1 118C and TP53 72Arg polymorphisms were associated with increased risks of platinum-induced nephrotoxicity. Other risk factors found included the platinum type, baseline serum creatinine (Scr), coadministration of vinorelbine, and the number of chemotherapy cycles. The overall prediction rate of the CART was 82.7%, with a sensitivity of 0.630 and specificity of 0.896. The Framingham study risk prediction model contained 7 factors. Its prediction rate was 84.5%, with a sensitivity of 0.643 and specificity of 0.909. Conclusions. Genetic polymorphisms of ERCC1 and TP53 are risk factors for nephrotoxicity. The CART analysis may provide a clinically applicable model to predict the risk of cisplatin- and carboplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the Marxist feminist ideas and ideology of Aleksandra Kollontai in the early Soviet Union and May Fourth China, with specific reference to both transmission and translation of Family and the Communist State. The first section of this paper shows how Kollontai depicts the blue print "new women" in this text under the political context of Lenin's hegemony, analyzing her conception of constructing the female "self" within the future Soviet family, public property and the communist state. Factors such as the relation between this source text and the target text 'The Family in the Future Society', the connection between Kollontai's motivations for writing and Mao Dun's purpose in translating, the interaction between transmitting functions of Soviet propaganda and manipulating mechanisms of Chinese communist organizations, and the political environments and historical developments in the early Soviet Union and May Fourth China, are all investigated in the second part. Demonstrating the development of how this work travels, I argue that Russian and Chinese male communists usually employed the so-called "solving women's questions" strategy to achieve their patriarchal and political aims when they encountered serious defeat in the 1920s. Paradoxically, Kollontai, as a nonconformist and a rebellious politician, survived the hegemony of Tsarism, Leninism and Stalinism, suggesting that the power of marginalization cannot be neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which focuses on the changes of the concentration of intracellular calcium in the y-organs cells of crustaceans. It mentions that the secretion of ecdysteriod molting hormone is being affected by neuropeptide molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH). The study was conducted to blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) that was stored in tanks with artificial seawater. It states that the Y-organs that were dissected from the crabs were washed using Pantin's saline containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The study shows that fluorescent calcium indicators can determine the calcium levels in the Y-organs cells of crustaceans, however, the hemolymphatic ecdysteroid titer can be determined using radioimmunoassay.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of an asthma continuing education program on pharmacists’ knowledge and attitudes related to asthma pharmaceutical care. Subjects and Methods: A 20-hour continuing education program was conducted by the joint efforts of the Taipei City Government, Taiwan Association of Asthma Education and Taipei Medical University Wan Fang Hospital, in a series of 4 days afternoon sessions from June 26 to July 4, 2004. One hundred and twenty-five pharmacists participated. The Asthma Knowledge Test in Mandarin and the Asthma Attitude Scale in Mandarin were developed by adapting the scale used to evaluate the impact of pharmacist continuing education programs on diabetic care. The results before and after the intervention were compared to evaluate the impact of the program. Results: Of the 125 participants, 105 returned both the pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, for a response rate of 84.0%. The total score of the attitude section increased significantly from 40.04 ± 3.35 to 42.54 ± 2.98 (full score = 50, p < 0.001). The total score of the knowledge section also increased significantly from 7.18 ± 1.31 to 7.56 ± 1.15 (p = 0.008). Improvement in the attitude score was found in 70 (67.0%) subjects, and in the knowledge score in 45 (43.5%) subjects. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that attitude and knowledge toward asthma care improved after the continuing education program. Further study of long-term impact and direct changes in asthma pharmaceutical care practice will be necessary. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]