National Chung Hsing University

This study evaluated the treatment preferences among patients and caregivers for moderate or severe hemophilia A in Taiwan.

This cross-sectional study used a discrete choice experiment approach to assess treatment preferences among patients with hemophilia A and their caregivers. Respondents chose between 2 hypothetical treatments defined by 7 attributes including no bleeding episode, treated events of joint bleeding, long-term safety, type of treatment and risk of thromboembolic events, administration frequency, consumption route, and monitoring dosing options. Preference weights and relative importance (RI) of attributes were estimated using a hierarchical Bayesian logistic regression model.

A total of 51 eligible respondents completed the discrete choice experiment (patients, 76.5%; caregivers, 23.5%). Most patients (70.6%) had severe hemophilia and 43.1% received prophylactic treatment for >10 years. Respondents valued "type of treatment and risk of thromboembolic events" as the most important factor (RI 26.2%; 95% CI 20.9-31.5) followed by "consumption route" (RI 25.8%; 95% CI 20.7-30.9) and "administration frequency" (RI 15.2%; 95% CI 12.0-18.4). "Monitoring dosing options" was the least important attribute (RI 6.3%; 95% CI 5.2-7.4). Respondents had 63% possibility to choose a treatment profile that has factor VIII product compared with nonfactor product.

Patients and caregivers valued "type of treatment and risk of thromboembolic events" as the most important driver in choosing a treatment for moderate or severe hemophilia A. This study provides important insights into patients' preferences and informs clinicians to consider patients' choices when prescribing a treatment.

Ammonia is a major pollutant of freshwater environments. Previous studies have indicated that ammonia exposure adversely affects the physiology of freshwater fish. However, its effect on bone mineralization in freshwater fish larvae remains unclear. In this study, zebrafish larvae were used as a model to investigate the effects of different ammonia levels (0, 2.5, 5, and 10 mM NH₄Cl) on the survival rate, body length, and bone mineralization of fish. The survival rate of zebrafish embryos exposed to different NH₄Cl concentrations for 8 days was not affected. In contrast, the body length and bone mineralization of zebrafish larvae at 8 days post fertilization (dpf) were significantly reduced at 5 and 10 mM NH₄Cl exposure. Further investigations revealed that ammonia exposure decreased the mRNA expression of osteoblast-related genes and increased that of osteoclast-related genes. Additionally, exposure to 5 mM and 10 mM NH4Cl induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). 10 mM-but not 5 mM-NH₄Cl exposure reduced the calcium and phosphorus content in 8 dpf zebrafish larvae. In conclusion, ammonia exposure induces bone resorption, while decreasing the calcium and phosphorus content of the whole body and bone formation, resulting in impaired bone mineralization in fish larvae.

The goal of this research is to create adsorbents from groundwater treatment sludge that have the functional property of H₂S adsorption in air.The prepared adsorbent samples were characterized to have a main phase component of crystalline CaCO₃ (the average crystallite size of 25-36 nm), finely dispersed on the surface by an amorphous oxide phase of silicon and iron metals.The raw sludge when drying at 105°C for 24 h (SL-105) was shown to be effective for the adsorption, with H₂S removal efficiency (${x_{{{\rm{H}}_2}{\rm{S}}}}$xH2S) decreasing from 100% to 74% in adsorption time 70 min (conditions: adsorption temperature of 25°C; inlet H₂S concentration of 4000 ppm; inlet gas-air flow rate of 2.0 L/min; adsorbent mass of 10.0 g).The SL-105 sample, when calcinated at 300°C, showed a higher ${x_{{{\rm{H}}_2}{\rm{S}}}}$xH2S of ∼ 75% in 100 min; the adsorption capacity (${a_{{{\rm{H}}_2}{\rm{S}}}}$aH2S) of the latter could be increased to ∼ 75% (${a_{{{\rm{H}}_2}{\rm{S}}}}$aH2S ≈507.5 mg/g) in 600 min when it was impregnated with copper oxide.The H₂S adsorption process was found to be chemisorption and monolayer, following the Langmuir adsorption isotherm.Thus, it is obvious that economically and tech. efficient adsorbents derived from sludge precursors can be effectively used for H₂S purification in air.