Activation treatment

If more active treatment is required, such as pump-and-treat, it is possible that biological reactors will be a cost-effective replacement for activated carbon filters (63). 

Enzymes Degrading Macromolecules. Enzymes that degrade macromolecules such as membrane polysaccharides, stmctural and functional proteins, or nucleic acids, have all shown oncolytic activity. Treatment strategies include the treatment of inoperable tumors with pepsin (1) antitumor activity of carboxypeptidase (44) cytotoxicity of ribonudease (45—47) oncolytic activity of neuraminidase (48—52) therapy with neuraminidase of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (53) antitumor activity of proteases (54) and hyaluronidase treatment in the management of human soHd tumors (55). 

Anti-sneakage baffles Baffles in an electrostatic precipitator that prevent untreated gas from bypassing the active treatment zone. 

One of the first indications that the antiinflammatory potency of the corticoids could be increased was the observation that incorporation of a 9a-fluoro group in hydrocortisone resulted in a tenfold increase in activity. Treatment of hydrocortisone acetate (170a) with phosphorus oxychloride in pyridine yields the corresponding olefin, 172. This, on being subjected to the reaction sequence depicted in the transformation of 104 to 108 (addition of HOBr, closure to the epoxide and ring opening with HF),... 

Replacement of one of the benzene rings by pyridine in the fenamic acid-type analgesics leads to an agent with full pharmacologic activity. Treatment of the N-oxide of nicotinic acid with phosphorus trichloride followed by hydrolysis of the acid... 

Neither the oxide nor the amidine function are in fact required for activity. Treatment of the oxime, 7, with chloro-acetyl chloride in the presence of sodium hydroxide proceeds directly to the benzodiazepine ring system (14)(the hydroxyl ion presumably fulfills a role analogous to methylamine in the above rearrangement). Reduction of the N-oxide function of 14 leads to diazepam (15). ... 

Fusion of an additional heterocyclic ring onto that already present in the benzodiazepines has led to some medicinal agents with considerable activity. Treatment of an intermediate like 15 with phosphorus pentasulfide affords the corresponding thio-amide (37). Condensation of this intermediate with acetyl hydra-zide affords triazolam )37). The same agent can be prepared by reaction of the amidine, 38, ° with acetylhydrazide. ... 

In experiment HGR-13, the commercial grade precipitated nickel catalyst was in a reduced and stabilized condition when it was charged into the reactor. No special activation treatment was needed. It was, however, kept under hydrogen at all times until the temperature and pressure of the system were brought to synthesis conditions, at which time the synthesis feed gas was gradually fed into the system to start the run. 

Another activation treatment, suitable for most celluloses (although with great variation of the time required, 1 to 48 h) is polar solvent displacement at room temperature. The polymer is treated with a series of solvents, ending with the one that will be employed in the derivatization step. Thus, cellulose is treated with the following sequence of solvents, before it is dissolved in LiCl/DMAc water, methanol, and DMAc [37,45-48]. This method, however, is both laborious, needs ca. one day for micro crystalline cellulose, and expensive, since 25 mL of water 64 mb of methanol, and 80 mb of DMAc are required to activate one gram of cellulose. Its use may be reserved for special cases, e.g., where cellulose dissolution with almost no degradation is relatively important [49]. 

For any intervention intended to impact favorably upon human health, it is important to evaluate its safety and efficacy in order to demonstrate that it does not cause harm and it does provide the expected benefit. The gold standard method for evaluating any intervention, whether it be a botanical product, dietary supplement, drug, medical device or medical procedure, is the randomized, clinical trial (RCT). A clinical trial is a type of experiment conducted in human subjects where the effects of at least two interventions are compared. Often, the clinical trial takes the form of an active treatment compared to an inactive control or placebo. 

Randomization refers to the process of assigning subjects by chance to treatments. This eliminates known and unknown sources of bias that could interfere with accurate interpretation of the study results. The main problem that randomization is intended to prevent is bias in subject selection. Without randomization, investigators might consciously or subconsciously select subjects to receive the active treatment, which, they believe, are most likely to respond. History shows that uncontrolled studies are much more likely to provide exaggerated support in favor of the effectiveness of a treatment than properly controlled trials (Pocock, 1983). Therefore, whenever possible, randomization should be used in order to help insure a fair and unbiased evaluation of the intervention under study. 

All clinical trials should have a pre-specified research question, which may be stated in the form of a primary hypothesis (or possibly a few primary hypotheses). An objective outcome measure or measures should also be clearly identified, such as the results of a biochemical test or the score on a validated scale. This allows statistical tests to be applied in order to assess the likelihood that any differences in response between treatment groups resulted from the active treatment and were not due to chance. 

For some conditions, a large placebo effect can be anticipated. For example, studies of hormone replacement therapies for hot flashes in postmenopausal women consistently show a 50% decline from baseline in the number of daily hot flashes in the placebo group. Therefore, in order to show significance, an active treatment must produce an effect that is substantially larger than 50%. A marked placebo response is commonly observed with any condition that has a subjective component, such as chronic pain (e.g. arthritis), episodic pain (e.g. headaches), psychological states (e.g. anxiety), and certain physiologic measurements (e.g. blood pressure). 

Information on the chemical state of iridium on going from the molecular precursors, and its adsorption on the surface of the support can be obtained by Ir Mossbauer spectroscopy. It allows to estimate the composition of the Ir-containing alloys that are possibly formed during the activation treatment of supported bimetallic systems. The main results obtained in the application of Ir Mossbauer spectroscopy to characterize two Ir-containing bimetallic supported nanoparticles, i.e., Pt-Ir on amorphous silica and Fe-Ir on magnesia are presented and discussed... 

Triglycerides of 150 mg/dL (1.70 mmol/L) or greater or active treatment to lower triglycerides. 

Low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL or 1.04 mmol/L in males and less than 50 mg/dL or 1.3 mmol/L in females) or active treatment to raise HDL cholesterol. 

Blood pressure of 130/85 mm Hg or greater or active treatment with antihypertensive therapy. 

Studies in patients with dementia sementics have revealed a higher rate of cerebrovascular adverse events, some resulting in fatalities in the active treatment group. 

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the use of a monophasic OC containing 30 meg ethinyl estradiol and 3 mg drospirenone, a progesterone with anti-androgenic effects, showed improvement in the treatment arm compared with placebo.31 In particular, appetite, food cravings, and acne improved. However, active treatment was not associated with a statistically significant improvement in the overall outcome measure, the Calendar of Premenstrual Experiences (COPE) scale, perhaps because of the small sample size (n = 82). 

The obvious problem with prescribing placebos is the fact that it generally entails deception. When physicians prescribe placebos, they don t tell their patients that the treatment is a placebo.13 Instead, the patients are led to believe that they are receiving an active treatment. This raises a serious ethical question. Is it ethical to deceive patients if the deception is likely to make them better ... 

It is interesting to note that some 1,5-benzodiazepines such as 29 also possess CNS depressant activity. Treatment of substituted diphenylamine 26 with methyl malonyl chloride and reduction with Raney nickel led to orthophenylenediamine analogue 27. Sodium alkoxide treatment led to lactam formation (28), and alkylation in the usual way with NaH and methyl iodide produced clobazam (29). °... 

Parthenogenetic one-cell embryos were fused very soon after an activating treatment with parthenogenetic one-cell embryos entering first mitosis. We expected that hybrids obtained in such experiments would either arrest in M-... 

Walton-Day, K. 2003. Passive and active treatment of mine drainage. In Jambor, J.L., Blowes, D.W., Ritchie, A.M.I. (eds.), Environmental aspects of mine waste, Mineralogical Association of Canada Short Course, 31, 117-147. 

Unblinding. If the patient or physician are unblinded due to rapid improvement of the disease or an ADR they may be led to expect ADRs with the active treatment. 

Under the RCRA, the EPA has the authority to require a refinery to clean up releases of hazardous waste or waste constituents. The regulation provides for cleanup of hazardous waste released from active treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. Superfund was expected to handle contamination that had occurred before that date. 

A double-blind control is also an essential element of drug studies. Double-blind means that neither experimenter nor subject knows who is receiving the active treatment or the placebo. Again, this is to eliminate potential bias from both parties. Otherwise, experimenters could unwittingly influence the outcome of the study by subtly treating subjects differently. 

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