“
“Vitamin B12 is stored in hepatocytes and inhibits hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA translation. The implication of B12 in the setting of antiviral treatment is unknown. This study aims to retrospectively evaluate the discriminative efficacy of pretreatment B12 serum levels (s-B12) on end-of-treatment response (ETR) in patients with chronic HCV. Ninety-nine treatment naive HCV patients, treated with interferon and ribavirin were studied. Serum B12 (s-B12) was analysed in samples collected before treatment start. Pretreatment s-B12 levels were correlated

to ETR using univariate analysis. S-B12 and clinical data were evaluated in a multivariate logistic regression model. Mean pretreatment s-B12 was 331 AZD6738 supplier pm in ETR and 260 pm in nonresponders (NR) (P = 0.012). In patients with s-B12 levels < 360 pm, 23 (31.5%) were NR and 50 (68.5%) had ETR. In patients with s-B12 > EPZ004777 in vivo 360 pm, one (3.8%) was NR and 25 (96.2%) had ETR (P = 0.0034). The results of the multivariate analysis were as follows: Pretreatment s-B12 > 360 vs < 360 pm: OR 28.6 CI 2.31-354, P =

0.008. Fibrosis stage 3-4 vs 0-2: OR 0.29 CI 0.074-1.12, P = 0.068. Genotype 2/3 vs 1/4/5: OR 15.5 CI 2.87-83.9, P = 0.0012. Dose reduction vs no dose reduction: OR 0.21, CI 0.048-0.91 P = 0.034. Standard interferon vs pegylated-interferon: OR 0.079, CI 0.0091-0.68 P = 0.019. Age and gender were not correlated to ETR. S-B12 > 360 pm is independently correlated to ETR in HCV patients treated with interferon and ribavirin. This suggests that B12 is involved in suppression of viral replication during anti-HCV treatment.”
“The time domain and electric field dependence of the polarization switching kinetics of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer based check details thin film metal-ferroelectric-metal capacitors have been characterized. At room temperature, the time required for complete switching polarization decreases from >1 s to <50 mu s as the voltage is increased from 6 to 12 V, while low nonswitching polarization

is maintained. In the time domain, the ferroelectric switching polarization reversal behavior for devices biased above the coercive field follows the nucleation-limited-switching model. The exponential relationship between switching time and applied electric field indicates nucleation dominated switching kinetics. Switching behavior as a function of temperature was also characterized from -60 to 100 degrees C in the voltage range of 6-12 V. Higher temperatures induce larger dc conductance leakage at low frequencies and increases nonswitching polarization for all the voltages studied. It is demonstrated that for certain frequencies, by controlling the switching voltage, our optimized ferroelectric thin film capacitor shows stable switching polarization in a temperature range compatible with flexible electronics applications. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.