The venotonic drug hydroxyethylrutosiden does not prevent or reduce docetaxel-induced fluid retention: results of a comparative study

PURPOSE: Fluid retention, which includes peripheral edema, ascites, pleural or pericardial effusion, or a combination of these that is sometimes associated with significant weight gain, is one of the most troublesome cumulative side effects of docetaxel. A suggestive observation from the data base available at the manufacturer (Rhone-Poulenc Rorer) was that patients who received venotonic drugs appeared to tolerate more courses of docetaxel. This prompted a comparative study to investigate whether the venotonic drug hydroxyethylrutosiden could reduce or delay docetaxel-related fluid retention. METHODS: A total of 85 patients with metastatic breast cancer who were treated with docetaxel at a dose of 100 mg/m2 with corticoid comedication were allocated to receive either 300 mg hydroxyethylrutosiden given orally four times daily (group A) or no hydroxyethylrutosiden (group B). The end point for analysis was the development of fluid retention of > or = grade 2. RESULTS: Fluid retention of > or = grade 2 was reported in 14 of 42 patients (33%) in group A and in 15 of 43 patients (35%) in group B and occurred after a median of 4 cycles of docetaxel in both groups. Weight gain was similar in groups A and B. CONCLUSION: We conclude that hydroxyethylrutosiden does not reduce or delay the incidence and severity of docetaxel-related fluid retention.     

The formation of diffusion coatings on some low-alloy steels and their high temperature oxidation behaviour: Part 1 diffusion coatings

The thermal stability of aluminised coatings on Fe-alloys containing Ni, Si and Cr and of chromised coatings on Fe-alloys containing Ni and Si has been studied. The results indicate that thermal stability is affected mainly by phase equilibria and diffusion paths have been plotted on the appropriate ternary diagrams.     

鸽舍

项目名称:Dovecote Studio项目设计:Haworth Tompkins项目地点:英国,Suffolk,Snape业主:Aldeburgh Music摄影:Philip Vile在伦敦东北部100公里处,有一个小镇,名叫奥尔德堡。是作曲家本杰明·布里顿的家乡,更是他那著名的歌剧《彼得·格林》故事背景所在地。     

Involvement of intracellular calcium in morphine tolerance in mice

We attempted to mimic in small upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) bioreactors the metabolic association found in nature between methanogens and methanotrophs. UASB bioreactors were inoculated with pure cultures of methanotrophs, and the bioreactors were operated by using continuous low-level oxygenation in order to favor growth and/or survival of methanotrophs. Unlike the reactors in other similar studies, the hybrid anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors which we used were operated synchronously, not sequentially. Here, emphasis was placed on monitoring various methanotrophic populations by using classical methods and also a PCR amplification assay based on the mmoX gene fragment of the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO). The following results were obtained: (i) under the conditions used, Methylosinus sporium appeared to survive better than Methylosinus trichosporium; (ii) the PCR method which we used could detect as few as about 2,000 sMMO gene-containing methanotrophs per g (wet weight) of granular sludge; (iii) inoculation of the bioreactors with pure cultures of methanotrophs contributed greatly to increases in the sMMO-containing population (although the sMMO-containing population decreased gradually with time, at the end of an experiment it was always at least 2 logs larger than the initial population before inoculation); (iv) in general, there was a good correlation between populations with the sMMO gene and populations that exhibited sMMO activity; and (v) inoculation with sMMO-positive cultures helped increase significantly the proportion of sMMO-positive methanotrophs in reactors, even after several weeks of operation under various regimes. At some point, anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors like those described here might be used for biodegradation of various chlorinated pollutants.