Pegylated interferon alpha-2a once weekly provides more effective and safer therapy than standard interferon alpha-2a thrice weekly for treatment-naive dialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C.

There were obvious differences in the biological characteristics between oral CAFs and NFs. The results may provide us an experimental foundation for further studies on the roles of CAFs in the initiation and progression of oral cancer.

Most systems for training self‐regulated learning (SRL) behaviour focus on the provision of a learner‐centred environment. Such systems repeat the training process and place learners alone to experience that process iteratively. According to the relevant literature, external scaffolds are more promising for effective SRL training. In this work, group awareness and peer assistance are used as external scaffolds in the process of training SRL behaviour, enhancing opportunities for self‐reflection and stimulating and encouraging learners. This work further develops a system, called self‐regulated learning with group awareness and peer assistance (SRL‐GAPA). Experimental results reveal that SRL‐GAPA provides significantly more participation in online training tasks and learning activities, better SRL behaviour and better learning achievement than the traditional SRL system (i.e,, a learner‐centred environment). The SRL‐GAPA benefited poorly self‐regulated learners more than highly self‐regulated students. Some implications of this finding are discussed.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and pharmacogenetic interaction on the survival of the patients with diastolic heart failure (DHF). A total of 285 subjects with DHF confirmed by echocardiography were recruited in the period between 1995 and 2003. Baseline characteristics (age, sex, prior history, medication, and echocardiographic findings) and genetic polymorphisms (ACE gene insertion/ deletion (I/D) polymorphism; T174M, M235T, G-6A, A-20C, G-152A, and G-217A polymorphisms of the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene; and A1166C polymorphisms of the angiotensin II type I receptor (AT1R)) were collected and matched (by propensity score) in those who received and those who did not receive ACE inhibitors. The patients were followed up to 10 years. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models were used to demonstrate the survival trend. The 85 patients who received ACE inhibitors and the other 85 patients who did not were found to have comparable baseline characteristics and polymorphism distribution. Prescription of ACE inhibitors was associated with a significant decrease in overall mortality (hazard ratio (HR), 0.45; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.24-0.83; P ¼ 0.01), and a lower rate of cardiovascular events at 4000 days (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.32-0.90; P ¼ 0.02). In addition, ACE I/D gene D allele was associated with higher overall mortality as compared with the I allele (HR, 2.04; P ¼ 0.003). This effect was diminished in those who received ACE inhibitors. The use of ACE inhibitor was associated with a significant decrease in long-term mortality and cardiovascular events in the patients with DHF. Genetic variants in the renin-angiotensin system genes were also associated, but their effects could be modified by the use of ACE inhibitors.

Our findings suggest that the impairment of physical fitness associated with betel nut chewing of military young men might be mainly mediated or moderated by the coexisted cigarette smoking.