Immunosuppressants require therapeutic drug monitoring because of their narrow therapeutic index and significant inter-individual variability in blood concentrations. This variability can be because of factors like drug-nutrient interactions, drug-disease interactions, renal-insufficiency, inflammation and infection, gender, age, polymorphism and liver mass. Drug monitoring is widely practiced ...

Lung fibrosis is considered a severe manifestation of microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Antimyeloperoxidase (anti-MPO) antibodies in MPA patients' sera can activate MPO and lead to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). While high levels of ROS are cytotoxic, low levels can induce fibroblast proliferation. Therefore, we hypothesised that the oxidative stress induced by anti-MPO antibodi...

Polyomavirus BK (BKV)-associated nephropathy causes premature kidney transplant (KT) failure. BKV viruria and viremia are biomarkers of disease progression, but associated risk factors are controversial. A total of 682 KT patients receiving basiliximab, mycophenolic acid (MPA), corticosteroids were randomized 1:1 to cyclosporine (CsA) or tacrolimus (Tac). Risk factors were analyzed in 629 (92.2...

supersonic separators have found extensive applications in dehumidification of natural gases since 2003. unlike previous studies, which have investigated the inlet conditions and nozzle geometry of supersonic separators for pure fluids, the present study employed a combination of momentum, heat, and mass transfer equations along with virial equation of state (eos) to inspect the effect of inlet...

in this study, the diffusivity and volumetric mass transfer coefficients for the extraction of β-carotene from crude palm oil using co2 solvent in supercritical fluid were determined in the pressure range of 7.5-17.5 mpa and temperature range of 80-120 ºc. for this purpose, a statistical method was applied in order to minimize the number of experiments required. the volumetric mass transfer coe...

In this study, we investigated if Gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, augments endometrial cancer (EC) therapy with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). Combined treatment with Gefitinib plus MPA decreased the proliferation and invasiveness of the Ishikawa and RL952 EC cell lines more effectively than MPA treatment alone. Moreover, combined treatment with Gefitinib pl...

o bjectives: providing reliable attachment between bracket base and zirconia surface is a prerequisite for exertion of orthodontic force. the purpose of the present study was to eval- uate the effect of four zirconium surface treatment methods on shear bond strength (sbs) of orthodontic brackets. mat erials and methods: one block of zirconium was trimmed into four zirconium sur- faces, which se...

With recent improvements in the commercial feasibility of high pressure pasteurization units, the technology is gaining rapid acceptability across various sectors of food manufacturing, thus requiring extensive validation studies for effective adoption. Various times (1 min to 10 min) and intensity levels (0 MPa to 380 MPa) of elevated hydrostatic pressure were investigated for decontamination ...

BACKGROUND Different extents and locations of acetabular cartilage defect have been supposed to be a major cause of undesirable outcomes of periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). This study aimed to verify whether different locations of cartilage deficiency affect the biomechanical environment in a three-dimensional model utilizing finite eleme...