bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
South African consumers' opinions and beliefs regarding the health benefits of soy and soy products
Authors: Bosman Magdalena J.C. , Ellis Susanna M. , Jerling Johann C. , Badham Jane , van der Merwe Daleen 
Published: January 2011

AbstractStudies linking diet and health and consumers' demand for health information, has led to an increasing awareness of the role of nutrition in health and disease. Interest in soy foods and an awareness of its health benefits has also increased. The objective was to assess South African (SA) consumers' opinions and beliefs regarding the health benefits of soy and soy products using different statements.This cross‐sectional study randomly selected 3001 respondents from metropolitan and rural areas in South Africa. Data of 81% of respondents (n = 2437), who had heard of soy, were used. Trained fieldworkers administered questionnaires as face‐to‐face interviews. Fifteen statements probing consumers' opinions regarding the health benefits of soy were used. The data were weighted to be representative of the total South Africa adult population (n = 18 251 000) based on gender, age, living environment and race distribution in 2000.Effect sizes were used to determine the strength of associations (practical significance), since statistical significance could be attributed to the large study population. No practically significant differences between either gender or age groups, or between rural and metropolitan respondents' opinions were found. Most respondents in the total study population (50–75%), as well as within all race groups agreed that soy has many health benefits; soy is good for you; soy lowers cholesterol; soy is good for people with a milk allergy; soy helps keep your heart healthy; soy is good for diabetes and soy is good for growing children. Medium to large practically significant differences were found between racial groups regarding some of the statements. Practically significantly more adult Black consumers believed that soy is only for people with a low‐income, and fewer that soy milk is good for people with a milk allergy than did White, Indian and Coloured consumers. Whites were relatively more positive towards the use of soy for people with a milk allergy opposed to Blacks, while Blacks were relatively more positive than Whites towards the statement that soy helps keep your bones strong.The results indicate that SA consumers held positive opinions and associate consumption of soy with several health benefits. The role of soy is seen more as being preventative than curative. It may represent a challenge to the food industry to design soy‐containing products that appeal to a broader spectrum of consumers.
A forecast simulation analysis of the next‐generation DVD market based on consumer preference data
Authors: Lee Jongsu , Choi Jae Young , Cho Youngsang 
Published: January 2011

AbstractJust as standards wars over formats had characterized VCRs upon introduction to the market, the next‐generation DVD standards war between Blu‐Ray and HD‐DVD lasted 6 years before Blu‐Ray won the contest. Beginning with stated preference data drawn from a structured conjoint survey conducted before Blu‐Ray became the de facto standard of the next‐generation DVD format, we estimate consumer preferences on digital video players. A Bayesian mixed‐logit model is used and market share simulations are conducted under various scenarios based on the estimated parameters from Bayesian mixed‐logit model to surmise the future South Korean digital video‐player market. Results indicate that consumers feel that network size and title availability are more important than hardware‐related facets of the product, such as definition and storage capacity. The level of title availability and price of the Blu‐Ray player for Blu‐Ray's dominance over DVD will dramatically vary by the penetration rate of DVD players.
Impact of a sustained virological response on the long‐term outcome of hepatitis C
Authors: Alberti Alfredo 
Published: January 2011

AbstractA sustained virological response (SVR), defined as undetectable hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐RNA 24 weeks after withdrawal from therapy (SVR‐24w), is the primary endpoint of antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis C. There is solid evidence that patients who reach this target will remain virus free during long‐term follow‐up, with a risk of late HCV recurrence of <2% in published series using the most stringent criteria for assessing the virological response during and after antiviral therapy. Long‐term observational studies indicate that SVR‐24w has a profound impact on the natural course of chronic hepatitis C in relation to biochemical and histological remission of liver disease and improvement in quality of life. The effects of successful antiviral therapy on clinical endpoints such as the development of end‐stage liver disease, its severe complications and liver‐related mortality have been more difficult to ascertain because of the heterogeneity of the initial staging and rate of progression of chronic hepatitis C. However, most available data suggest that SVR following antiviral therapy reduces the risk of progression to cirrhosis and may prevent the development of severe liver complications and improve survival, at least in successfully treated patients who have already progressed to significant liver fibrosis or early cirrhosis. Outcome modelling suggests that these effects might also include HCV patients treated with milder forms of liver damage.
How to assess liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C: serum markers or transient elastography vs. liver biopsy?
Authors: Castera Laurent , Bedossa Pierre 
Published: January 2011

AbstractThe assessment of liver fibrosis is a major issue in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis C. Liver biopsy has traditionally been considered the gold standard for the evaluation of tissue damage, including fibrosis. In addition, it detects associated lesions such as steatosis, steatohepatitis or iron overload, which provide useful information for patient management and prognosis. Liver biopsy is, however, an invasive procedure, with a risk of rare but potentially life‐threatening complications and it is prone to sampling errors. These limitations have led to the development of non‐invasive methods. Currently available tests rely on two different but complementary approaches: (i) a ‘biological’ approach based on the dosage of serum biomarkers of fibrosis; (ii) a ‘physical’ approach based on the measurement of liver stiffness, using transient elastography. Although significant progress has been made in the non‐invasive diagnosis of fibrosis, it is increasingly clear that these methods will not completely replace liver biopsy. Instead, non‐invasive methods and liver biopsy should be used in an integrated approach for more efficient and convenient management of patients with chronic hepatitis C. The aim of this review is to discuss the advantages and limitations of liver biopsy and non‐invasive methods and the perspectives for their use in clinical practice.
Optimal therapy in hepatitis C virus genotypes 2 and 3 patients
Authors: Petta Salvatore , Craxì Antonio 
Published: January 2011

AbstractCurrent guidelines recommend that patients with genotype 2 (G2) and 3 (G3) chronic hepatitis C be treated with pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) plus low doses of ribavirin (800 mg/day) for 24 weeks, resulting in a sustained virological response (SVR) rate of approximately 80%. Considering these high response rates, several recent randomized trials have assessed whether shorter treatment (12–16 weeks) could be cost‐effective in these patients. The results of these studies vary but suggest better responsiveness in G2 patients, and overall, do not strongly support reducing treatment to <24 weeks in all patients. On the other hand, the presence of a rapid virological response (RVR) (defined as an undetectable hepatitis C virus‐RNA at 4 weeks of treatment) was always reported to be the best positive predictor of achieving SVR in both G2 and G3 patients. These results suggest that in a subgroup of subjects with RVR (G2>G3, viral load <400 000 IU, low fibrosis, no metabolic cofactors), shorter treatment is as effective as standard regimens, and that it can be proposed mainly if problems of poor tolerance or adherence are foreseen. It is possible that the SVR rate in non‐RVR patients and non‐responder patients could also be improved by prolonging therapy, but this must be specifically investigated in other studies along with the role of IL28B polymorphisms.
Future hepatitis C virus treatment: interferon‐sparing combinations
Authors: Gane Edward 
Published: January 2011

AbstractAn estimated million people have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. With current treatment success rates, by 2030, more than 40% will be cirrhotic and the number of cases with end‐stage liver disease is projected to treble. Current standard‐of‐care is the combination of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin for 24–48 weeks. Unfortunately this is associated with poor efficacy (45% in HCV GT1; 75% in GT2 and 65% in GT 3) and tolerability. Many patients are either unsuitable for or decline current treatment infection because of the significant side‐effects associated with this treatment, including those with decompensated cirrhosis or sever psychiatric illness. It is hoped that the development of direct acting antiviral agents (DAAs) will address this huge unmet medical need. The addition of a protease inhibitor to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin is associated with increase in efficacy and shortened duration of therapy in patients with HCV GT1 and is likely to become the new standard‐of‐care. However, triple therapy will not be suitable for patients with non‐1 HCV infection, or contraindications to interferon. It is hoped that the combination of multiple DAAs which target different steps of HCV replication should provide interferon‐free treatment regimen. Current and planned studies will determine which combination (protease, nonnucleoside polymerase, nucleoside polymerase, NS5A, cyclophyllin B inhibitors), how many DAAs and duration of therapy will be required to optimise cure. It will also be important to minimise the emergence of multi‐resistance, which would jeopardise future retreatment options
Chronic hepatitis B: peginterferon or nucleos(t)ide analogues?
Authors: Sonneveld Milan J. , Janssen Harry L. A. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractPegylated interferon‐α (PEG‐IFN) is still an important treatment option for both HBeAg‐positive and HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients even with the availability of potent nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUCs) with a low risk of resistance. The major advantages of PEG‐IFN‐based treatment include the limited duration of treatment and the good probability of achieving a sustained off‐treatment response. Responders to PEG‐IFN have an increased probability of HBsAg loss and survival. However, the limited number of patients who achieve a response and the high costs and side‐effects associated with PEG‐IFN limit its clinical use. The potent NUCs entecavir and tenofovir are therefore often used as a first‐line treatment option. Unfortunately, the off‐treatment durability of response to NUCs is generally low, requiring long‐term continuous therapy. Recent progress making it possible to select patients with a high probability of achieving a response to PEG‐IFN, and to adapt therapy early on in probable non‐responders, should help further optimize the utilization of PEG‐IFN in CHB.
Hepatitis C virus genotype 4 therapy: progress and challenges
Authors: Kamal Sanaa M. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractThe hepatitis C virus genotype 4 (HCV‐4) is prevalent in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa. Recently, the epidemiology of HCV‐4 has changed and this genotype has begun to cross borders and spread to several regions in Europe through immigration and injection drug use. HCV‐4 has been considered a difficult‐to‐treat genotype based on the low sustained virological response (SVR) rates obtained with conventional interferon (IFN)‐based regimens. Pegylated interferons (PEG‐IFN) plus ribavirin therapy for chronic HCV‐4 has been associated with increased SVR rates of more than 60%. Shorter treatment of chronic HCV‐4 patients with rapid and early virological responses has been associated with high SVR rates, better compliance, fewer adverse events and lower costs. Despite this progress, the treatment of HCV‐4 non‐responders, injection drug users, patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus, thalassaemic patients, patients on haemodialysis and patients with HCV‐4 recurrence after liver transplantation still represents a significant therapeutic challenge. Treatment of HCV‐4 has markedly improved, with higher sustained response rates and the possibility of shorter regimens. Despite the recent progress in the treatment of HCV‐4, more research is required to optimize current therapy and include genotype 4 patients in clinical trials on emerging therapies such as specifically targeted antiviral therapy for HCV with protease and/or polymerase inhibitors.
Treatment of HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B with pegylated interferon
Authors: Lampertico Pietro , Viganò Mauro , Colombo Massimo 
Published: January 2011

AbstractSerum HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B, which is usually a late stage of chronic hepatitis B virus infection, is difficult to treat, because it is characterized by fluctuating alanine transaminase values resulting in hepatitis flares, accelerated progression to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Antiviral treatment, either long‐term nucleot(s)ide therapy or 1‐year administration of pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN), is therefore necessary to limit the course of the disease. A sustained virological response to PEG‐IFN is achieved in approximately 1/4 of the patients, with significant rates of HBsAg seroclearance. While waiting for the results of several studies whose goal is to improve the long‐term efficacy of PEG‐IFN, the treatment strategy can be optimized by a careful selection of patients, discontinuation of PEG‐IFN as early as possible in primary non‐responders and extended therapy (up to 96 weeks) in responders.
Treatment of HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B with nucleos(t)ide analogues
Authors: Leung Nancy 
Published: January 2011

AbstractHBeAg seropositivity is a marker for active viral replication. In the natural history of chronic hepatitis B infection, HBeAg marks the first two of the four phases, namely the immune tolerant phase and the immune clearance phase, and is associated with highly replicative activity of the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Most HBV consensus reports and guidelines recommend antiviral therapy if the immune clearance phase is prolonged and if there is evidence of significant necroinflammation and fibrosis. Two main types of antiviral agents have been approved for treating patients in the immune clearance phase: interferon and nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUCs). The endpoints of therapy are viral suppression with HBeAg seroconversion, undetectable serum HBV DNA, normalization of serum alanine transaminase and improvement in the histological necroinflammatory and fibrosis scores. The ultimate goal of therapy is to obtain clinical benefit for the patient by reducing complications including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The choice between interferon‐based immune modulators or NUCs that target the HBV DNA polymerase must be carefully weighed on an individual basis. Therapy with NUCs is often preferred by doctors and patients because it is easy to administer, with predictable efficacy and minimal side‐effects. In specific patient subgroups such as those with decompensated disease, poor predictors of response or lack of response to interferon‐based therapy and/or significant comorbidities that cannot tolerate interferon‐induced side effects, NUCs therapy is the obvious choice. Entecavir and tenofovir are the treatments of choice because their efficacy and safety profile are better than lamivudine, adefovir and telbivudine. More importantly, there is a minimal risk of drug resistance during long‐term therapy with these agents.
The role of genetic markers in hepatitis C virus therapy: a major step for individualized care
Authors: McHutchison John G. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractIt has been understood for some time that the treatment outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is influenced by host genetic factors. Three independent genome‐wide association studies have recently identified that a genetic variation in theIL28Bgene [interferon‐λ3 (IFN‐λ3)] determines the outcome of IFN‐α‐based therapy in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C infection. This genetic polymorphism is also strongly associated with a higher likelihood of spontaneous clearance following acute hepatitis C infection. These results confirm the importance of specific host genetic markers in predicting outcome and treatment response. They also provide the framework and potential for a clinically relevant and meaningful pharmacogenomic approach to personalizing anti‐HCV treatment.
Quantification of hepatitis B surface antigen: a new concept for the management of chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Moucari Rami , Marcellin Patrick 
Published: January 2011

AbstractHBsAg is a very important clinical test that might not only indicate active hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection but might also be used to predict clinical and treatment outcome. Clearance of HBsAg in patients with chronic HBV infection is associated with a much better clinical outcome, although surveillance for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) should continue. HBV DNA quantification is currently used for selecting candidates for therapy, monitoring response to therapy and detecting the emergence of drug resistance. Assays for HBsAg quantification are less expensive than HBV DNA and fully automated with a high throughput capacity. HBsAg titering may be a useful tool to manage patients with chronic HBV, to more clearly define which patients may, and more importantly, may not, benefit from treatment. Baseline and on‐treatment HBsAg quantification may help to refine future treatment algorithms for both immune‐modulator therapy and nucleos(t)ide analogues. Both HBV markers provide complementary information on the status of HBV infection. However, the relevance of serum HBsAg levels and its use as a reliable replacement for both covalently closed circular DNA and HBV DNA remain unclear.
The role of triple therapy with protease inhibitors in hepatitis C virus genotype 1 naïve patients
Authors: Nelson David R. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractWith the introduction of direct‐acting oral antiviral agents we are on the verge of a new era that will transform the treatment landscape. This review discusses recent developments in drug discovery for hepatitis C protease inhibitors. First generation protease inhibitors will offer higher sustained viral response rates in naïve populations when combined with standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin. However, these dramatic gains will be partially offset by new challenges in viral resistance and increased adverse events.
Novel molecular therapies in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Faivre Sandrine , Bouattour Mohamed , Raymond Eric 
Published: January 2011

AbstractThe approval of sorafenib as the standard of care (SOC) for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) fostered interest to further evaluate several other targeted therapies and extend the positioning of sorafenib alone and in combination with other drugs and local therapies at earlier stages and in an adjuvant setting. This review highlights current research using targeted therapies in HCC. Information for this review was compiled by searching PubMed and MEDLINE databases for articles published until September 2010. Several small molecules and humanized antibodies with anti‐angiogenic and antiproliferative properties are currently being investigated in preclinical and/or clinical trials. Results are awaited from these clinical trials and offer promise for extending the current treatment options in HCC. Currently published data suggest that substantial progress may be achieved in the treatment of patients with HCC in the next 10 years.
The difficulties of managing severe hepatitis B virus reactivation
Authors: Roche Bruno , Samuel Didier 
Published: January 2011

AbstractReactivation of hepatitis B is characterized by a sudden increase in hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in a patient with prior evidence of resolved or inactive HBV infection. Although HBV reactivation can occur spontaneously, it usually occurs after chemotherapy, immunosuppression (organ transplantation) or an alteration in immune function (therapy for autoimmune disease, human immunodeficiency virus infection). The clinical presentation cases can vary, ranging from a subclinical, asymptomatic course to severe acute hepatitis and even death. Although reactivation of HBV is mainly found in HBsAg‐positive patients, it can be observed in serologically recovered anti‐hepatitis B core antibody (HBc)‐positive, HBsAg‐negative patients. Serum HBV DNA typically increases during immune suppression, followed by a disease flare and HBV DNA clearance following immune restoration after immune suppression is stopped. In organ transplant recipients, without immune reconstitution, high HBV DNA levels can lead to fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis related to the direct cytopathic effect of HBV. Several randomized, controlled trials and meta‐analyses have shown that reactivation can be prevented by lamivudine prophylaxis. Screening for HBsAg and anti‐HBc should be performed before beginning immunosuppressive treatment and routine prophylaxis is recommended in HBsAg‐positive patients. The optimal duration of prophylaxis remains to be determined. In anti‐HBc‐positive patients with or without anti‐hepatitis B surface antigen, alanine transaminase and HBV DNA levels should be closely monitored and antiviral therapy should be started when HBV reactivation is confirmed. The use of new more potent nucleos(t)ides analogues with lower resistance rates would seem to be logical; however, experience with these drugs in the prophylaxis and treatment of severe HBV reactivation is limited.
Role of insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in the progression of fibrosis and response to treatment in hepatitis C
Authors: Sanyal Arun J. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractHepatitis C is a common cause of chronic viral infection of the liver. It is associated with insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is also associated with the development of hepatic steatosis. The presence of hepatic steatosis is associated with an increased risk of having hepatic fibrosis. This is also associated with the severity of insulin resistance. These findings are specifically germane for those with genotype1 infection. Genotype 3 infection independently causes steatosis and successful treatment of the virus is followed by resolution of steatosis. In genotype 1 infection, the presence of hepatic steatosis is also a risk factor for failure to respond to pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy. Unfortunately efforts to treat insulin resistance prior to antiviral therapy have not been very successful. Newer efforts focused on the role of specific micro RNAs in mediating the metabolic effects of hepatitis C virus infection may provide to ameliorate the metabolic risks of HCV infection.