Potential therapeutic utility of hybridized IgG4 antibodies

Targeted cancer immunotherapy requires identifying and targeting an antigen preferentially present in the individual patient’s tumor as compared to that patient’s normal tissues. Manufacturing a fully targeted antibody can be time consuming and expensive, limiting the use of targeted immunotherapy as personalized cancer medicine.     

无牙颌颞下颌关节紊乱病患者总义齿修复前后咬合垂直距离改变与髁状突在关节凹内位置的关系

目的:观察咬合垂直距离改变对无牙颌颞下颌关节紊乱病患者两侧颞颌关节髁状突位置的影响。方法:于1994-01/1997-12选择本院口腔修复门诊收治的无牙颌患者中符合颞下颌关节紊乱病诊断标准,同时垂直距离减低的患者48例。实验方案经医院伦理委员会审批,患者均知情同意。将48例无牙颌颞下颌关节紊乱病患者根据垂直距离减低程度的不同分为3组:减低1.8～6.0mm组18例,减低6.1～10.0mm组20例,减低10.1￣14.0mm组10例。通过重新制作一副全口义齿的方法治疗,咬合垂直距离恢复在合适的范围内,3组全口义齿的咬合垂直距离恢复前分别平均为63.4,60.6,54.2mm,恢复后咬合垂直距离分别平均为67.8,68.4,66.4mm,平均抬高4.4,7.8,12.2mm。通过拍摄正中颌位时颞下颌关节薛氏位X射线片测量各组前、后、上关节间隙。结果:垂直距离恢复前,减低1.8～6.0mm组关节后间隙,减低6.1～10.0mm组关节前、后间隙、减低10.1￣14.0mm组关节上、后间隙左右侧相比较,差异有显著性意义(P<0.05)。垂直距离恢复后,3组关节间隙左右侧差异无显著性意义。结论:无牙颌咬合垂直距离减低后可以导致两侧髁状突位置发生不对称改变。     

成纤维细胞的力学生物学(下)

一、肌腱内成纤维细胞的力学生物学反应 肌腱内的成纤维细胞可以合成胶原蛋白及其他一些大分子。成纤维细胞可以将这些分子排列成组织性较高的单元，并使纤维的方向与张力方向平行。无论是培养的肌腱还是独立的成纤维细胞都可以对力做出相应的反应。     

GWAS with longitudinal phenotypes: performance of approximate procedures

Analysis of genome-wide association studies with longitudinal data using standard procedures, such as linear mixed model (LMM) fitting, leads to discouragingly long computation times. There is a need to speed up the computations significantly. In our previous work (Sikorska et al: Fast linear mixed model computations for genome-wide association studies with longitudinal data. Stat Med 2012; 32.1: 165–180), we proposed the conditional two-step (CTS) approach as a fast method providing an approximation to the P-value for the longitudinal single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effect. In the first step a reduced conditional LMM is fit, omitting all the SNP terms. In the second step, the estimated random slopes are regressed on SNPs. The CTS has been applied to the bone mineral density data from the Rotterdam Study and proved to work very well even in unbalanced situations. In another article (Sikorska et al: GWAS on your notebook: fast semi-parallel linear and logistic regression for genome-wide association studies. BMC Bioinformatics 2013; 14: 166), we suggested semi-parallel computations, greatly speeding up fitting many linear regressions. Combining CTS with fast linear regression reduces the computation time from several weeks to a few minutes on a single computer. Here, we explore further the properties of the CTS both analytically and by simulations. We investigate the performance of our proposal in comparison with a related but different approach, the two-step procedure. It is analytically shown that for the balanced case, under mild assumptions, the P-value provided by the CTS is the same as from the LMM. For unbalanced data and in realistic situations, simulations show that the CTS method does not inflate the type I error rate and implies only a minimal loss of power.     

In-111-labeled white blood cell uptake in noninfected closed fracture in humans: prospective study

Since indium-111 white blood cell (In-111 WBC) scintigraphy is often used to evaluate for osteomyelitis in bone fractures, it is important to know if noninfected fractures have In-111 WBC uptake. Twenty-seven noninfected closed fracture sites in 19 patients were prospectively evaluated with technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy and In-111 WBC scintigraphy. In-111 WBC uptake was present in 41% of the 27 sites. In the 11 positive sites, the In-111 WBC uptake was 1+ (definite but minimal) in 55%, 2+ (moderate) in 36%, and 3+ (marked) in 9%. The visual intensity of the radioactive uptake on In-111 WBC scintigrams relative to that on bone scintigrams was less in 82%, equal in 9%, and greater in 9%. The visual size of the area of uptake on In-111 WBC scintigrams and bone scintigrams was smaller in 36%, equal in 55%, and greater in 9%. Factors that may help distinction of In-111 WBC uptake due to fracture alone from infection associated with fracture are discussed.     

Efficacy and safety of a new single-dose terbinafine 1% formulation in patients with tinea pedis (athlete''s foot): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND: Tinea pedis is a common dermatophyte infection with frequent recurrences. Terbinafine (presently used as a 1-week topical treatment of tinea pedis) is now available in a novel topical solution (film-forming solution--FFS), developed to allow single application. OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate the efficacy and safety of terbinafine 1% FFS in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III trial, and to determine relapse or re-infection rate of tinea pedis at 12 weeks. PATIENTS/METHODS: Fifty-four centres (27 in France; 27 in Germany) enrolled 273 evaluable patients (2 : 1 randomization). Patients applied terbinafine 1% FFS or placebo only once between, under and over the toes, soles and sides of both feet. Efficacy assessments included direct microscopy, mycological culture, and clinical signs and symptoms at baseline, and at weeks 1, 6 and 12 after the single drug application. RESULTS: Effective treatment (negative mycology plus absent/minimal symptoms) at week 6 in the terbinafine 1% FFS group was 63%; vehicle was 17% (P相似文献