Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in places where chronic hepatitis B infection is endemic. Oral nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy can reduce the risk of HCC, but cannot completely prevent its development. For HBV-related HCCs, viral inhibition by NAs can preserve or improve liver function, thereby increasing the chance of therapeutic intervention. A...

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is experienced by newborn infants who have been exposed to opioids in utero. It is the subject of intensive study and, in 2013 alone, just over 70 new papers on the topic appeared in PubMed. Clinical assessment is carried out using a special scoring system which has become internationally established, and the Finnegan score or other modified scores frequently ...

Oxcarbazepine is a second-generation antiepileptic drug that is used to treat partial seizures. Although it has been increasingly used in pregnant women, its fetal safety has not been fully validated. We describe a 12-hour-old neonate who developed neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after intrauterine exposure to oxcarbazepine. The neonate was born via cesarean section to a mother who took oxca...

Neoculin (NCL), a protein with sweetness approximately 500-fold that of sugar, can be utilized as a nonglycemic sweetener. It also has taste-modifying activity to convert sourness to sweetness. NCL is a heterodimer composed of an N-glycosylated acidic subunit (NAS) and a basic subunit (NBS), which are conjugated by disulfide bonds. For the production of recombinant NCL (rNCL) by Aspergillus ory...

Prescription opioid and heroin abuse have been increasing steadily year after year, and continue to be a serious national problem. A sequela of the increase in opioid abuse has been an increase in the number of infants born with opioid dependence. These infants often require costly, prolonged stays in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for drug withdrawal treatment. The authors studied a p...

We conducted an in vivo carcinogenesis experiment to determine the efficacy of topical aspirin and sodium salicylate (NAS) in preventing UVB-induced nonmelanoma skin cancer. Hairless SKH-1 mice were randomly divided into eight treatment groups. They were treated topically with either 40 or 10 micromol aspirin or NAS three times weekly before 9 kJ/m(2) UVB irradiation. The experiment was carried...

Stress triggers psychiatric conditions including depressive and anxiety disorders. The mechanisms by which stress produces persistent changes in behavior are not fully understood. Here we show in rats that stress (footshock) activates the transcription factor cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) within the nucleus accumbens shell (NAS), a brain area involved in encoding reward and avers...

Objective: determine which tool (NEMS and NAS) is most suitable for use in intensive care units using a quality-based methodology. Method: after identifying the opportunity for improvement "Inadequacy of the NEMS for determining nursing workload in the intensive care unit (ICU)", we assessed the NEMS and the NAS, as a proposed improvement to the NEMS, using quality improvement cycles methodol...

The overall material stock of the Japanese economy is growing. Large portion of the stock is invested in construction materials such as asphalt, cement, sand and gravel, crushed stone, and other aggregates. The transport sector, particularly roadways, accounts for a large proportion of the construction material stock. This paper evaulates the Gross Additions to Stock (GAS) and Net Additions to ...

BACKGROUND We aimed to assess the structure, function and performance of Ashanti Region's emergency medical services system in the context of the regional need for prehospital emergency care. DESIGN A mixed-methods approach was employed, using retrospective collection of quantitative data and prospectively gathered qualitative data. Setting - pertinent data were collected from Ghanaian and in...