Efficacy and safety of carboplatin and pemetrexed followed by maintenance with pemetrexed for elderly patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer: A single-arm, open-label, multicenter, phase II study.

Purpose: Carboplatin plus pemetrexed followed by maintenance pemetrexed is expected to be well-tolerated by the elderly. This multicenter, prospective study examined the efficacy and tolerability of the regimen in elderly patients with previously untreated advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: The primary endpoint was the 1-year survival rate, with secondary endpoints of response rate (RR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse event rate.

Unconjugated bile acids in rat brain: Analytical method based on LC/ESI-MS/MS with chemical derivatization and estimation of their origin by comparison to serum levels.

Although some studies have revealed the implication of bile acids (BAs) and neurological diseases, the levels and origin of the BAs in the brain are not fully understood. In this study, we first developed and validated a sensitive and specific method for the determination of three unconjugated BAs [cholic acid (CA), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and deoxycholic acid (DCA)] in the rat brain by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry combined with chemical derivatization. The measured brain concentrations (mean±standard deviation, n=10) of normal rats were 58.

The Powdering Process with a Set of Ceramic Mills for Green Tea Promoted Catechin Extraction and the ROS Inhibition Effect.

For serving green tea, there are two prominent methods: steeping the leaf or the powdered leaf (matcha style) in hot water. The purpose of the present study was to reveal chemical and functional differences before and after the powdering process of green tea leaf, since powdered green tea may contribute to expanding the functionality because of the different ingesting style. In this study, we revealed that the powdering process with a ceramic mill and stirring in hot water increased the average extracted concentration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) by more than three times compared with that in leaf tea using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses.

Long-acting muscarinic antagonist + long-acting beta agonist versus long-acting beta agonist + inhaled corticosteroid for COPD: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Some trials have been conducted to compare long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) + long-acting beta agonist (LABA) versus LABA + inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but no meta-analysis were reported. Two investigators independently searched for eligible articles using the PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane databases. Articles in authors' reference files were also regarded as candidates.