LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Phase II trial of infusional fluorouracil, irinotecan, and bevacizumab for metastatic colorectal cancer: efficacy and circulating angiogenic biomarkers associated with therapeutic resistance.

PURPOSE
We investigated the efficacy of fluorouracil (FU), leucovorin, irinotecan, and bevacizumab (FOLFIRI + B) in a phase II trial in patients previously untreated for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), and changes during treatment in plasma cytokines and angiogenic factors (CAFs) as potential markers of treatment response and therapeutic resistance.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
We conducted a phase II, two-institution trial of FOLFIRI + B. Each 14-day cycle consisted of bevacizumab (5 mg/kg), irinotecan (180 mg/m(2)), bolus FU (400 mg/m(2)), and leucovorin (400 mg/m(2)) followed by a 46-hour infusion of FU (2,400 mg/m(2)). Levels of 37 CAFs were assessed using multiplex-bead assays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at baseline, during treatment, and at the time of progressive disease (PD).


RESULTS
Forty-three patients were enrolled. Median progression-free survival (PFS), the primary end point of the study, was 12.8 months. Median overall survival was 31.3 months, with a response rate of 65%. Elevated interleukin-8 at baseline was associated with a shorter PFS (11 v 15.1 months, P = .03). Before the radiographic development of PD, several CAFs associated with angiogenesis and myeloid recruitment increased compared to baseline, including basic fibroblast growth factor (P = .046), hepatocyte growth factor (P = .046), placental growth factor (P < .001), stromal-derived factor-1 (P = .04), and macrophage chemoattractant protein-3 (P < .001).


CONCLUSION
Efficacy and tolerability of FOLFIRI + B appeared favorable to historical controls in this single arm study. Before radiographic progression, there was a shift in balance of CAFs, with a rise in alternate pro-angiogenic cytokines and myeloid recruitment factors in subsets of patients that may represent mechanisms of resistance.
Prevention of tuberculosis in Bacille Calmette-Guérin-primed, HIV-infected adults boosted with an inactivated whole-cell mycobacterial vaccine.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a multiple-dose series of an inactivated whole cell mycobacterial vaccine, Mycobacterium vaccae, can prevent HIV-associated tuberculosis.


DESIGN AND METHODS
The DarDar trial was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. The study was carried in an outpatient facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. HIV-infected patients with CD4 cell counts of at least 200 cells/microl and a Bacille Calmette-Guérin scar were chosen for the study. The intervention was carried out by random 1:1 assignment to five intradermal doses of M. vaccae or placebo. Tuberculin skin tests were performed, and patients with reactions of at least 5 mm were administered isoniazid for 6 months. The main outcome measures were disseminated (primary endpoint), definite, and probable tuberculosis (secondary endpoints).


RESULTS
Two thousand thirteen individuals were randomized (1006 to M. vaccae, 1007 to placebo) and followed every 3 months for a median of 3.3 years. The trial was terminated early because of slow accrual of cases of disseminated tuberculosis and significant protection against definite tuberculosis. Hazard ratios were disseminated tuberculosis 0.52 (95% confidence interval 0.21-1.34; seven cases in M. vaccae, 13 cases in placebo; log-rank P = 0.16), definite tuberculosis 0.61 (95% confidence interval 0.39-0.96; 33 cases in M. vaccae, 52 cases in placebo; P = 0.03), and probable tuberculosis 1.17 (95% confidence interval 0.76-1.80; 48 cases in M. vaccae, 40 cases in placebo; P = 0.46). Immunization was well tolerated, with no adverse effect on CD4 cell count or HIV viral load, and no increase in the rate of serious adverse events.


CONCLUSION
Administration of a multiple-dose series of M. vaccae to HIV-infected adults with childhood Bacille Calmette-Guérin immunization is safe and is associated with significant protection against definite tuberculosis. These results provide evidence that immunization with a whole cell mycobacterial vaccine is a viable strategy for the prevention of HIV-associated tuberculosis.
A Framework for High-Level Feedback to Adaptive, Per-Pixel, Mixture-of-Gaussian Background Models

Copyright 2002 Springer-Verlag. Published in the 7th European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV-2002), May 28-31, 2002, Copenhagen, Denmark. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission to reprint/republish for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works, must be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Time-Adaptive, Per-Pixel Mixtures Of Gaussians (TAPPMOGs) have recently become a popular choice for robust modeling and removal of complex and changing backgrounds at the pixel level. However, TAPPMOG-based methods cannot easily be made to model dynamic backgrounds with highly complex appearance, or to adapt promptly to sudden “uninteresting” scene changes such as the re-positioning of a static object or the turning on of a light, without further undermining their ability to segment foreground objects, such as people, where they occlude the background for too long. To alleviate tradeoffs such as these, and, more broadly, to allow TAPPMOG segmentation results to be tailored to the specific needs of an application, we introduce a general framework for guiding pixel-level TAPPMOG evolution with feedback from “high-level” modules. Each such module can use pixel-wise maps of positive and negative feedback to attempt to impress upon the TAPPMOG some definition of foreground that is best expressed through “higher-level” primitives such as image region properties or semantics of objects and events. By pooling the foreground error corrections of many high-level modules into a shared, pixel-level TAPPMOG model in this way, we improve the quality of the foreground segmentation and the performance of all modules that make use of it. We show an example of using this framework with a TAPPMOG method and high-level modules that all rely on dense depth data from a stereo camera.
On the Key Generation Rate of Physically Unclonable Functions

THIS PAPER IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE STUDENT PAPER AWARD. In this paper, an algebraic binning based coding scheme and its associated achievable rate for key generation using physically unclonable functions (PUFs) is determined. This achievable rate is shown to be optimal under the generated-secret (GS) model for PUFs. Furthermore, a polar code based polynomial-time encoding and decoding scheme that achieves this rate is also presented.
A coordinate gradient descent method for linearly constrained smooth optimization and support vector machines training

Support vector machines (SVMs) training may be posed as a large quadratic program (QP) with bound constraints and a single linear equality constraint. We propose a (block) coordinate gradient descent method for solving this problem and, more generally, linearly constrained smooth optimization. Our method is closely related to decomposition methods currently popular for SVM training. We establish global convergence and, under a local error bound assumption (which is satisfied by the SVM QP), linear rate of convergence for our method when the coordinate block is chosen by a Gauss-Southwell-type rule to ensure sufficient descent. We show that, for the SVM QP with n variables, this rule can be implemented in O(n) operations using Rockafellar’s notion of conformal realization. Thus, for SVM training, our method requires only O(n) operations per iteration and, in contrast to existing decomposition methods, achieves linear convergence without additional assumptions. We report our numerical experience with the method on some large SVM QP arising from two-class data classification. Our experience suggests that the method can be efficient for SVM training with nonlinear kernel.
Flexural behaviour of reinforced Geopolymer concrete beams

Efforts are urgently underway all over the world to develop environmentally friendly construction materials, which make minimum utility of fast dwindling natural resources and help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this connection, Geopolymers are showing great potential and several researchers have critically examined the various aspects of their viability as binder system. Geopolymer concretes (GPCs) are new class of building materials that have emerged as an alternative to Ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC) and possess the potential to revolutionize the building construction industry. Considerable research has been carried out on development of Geopolymer concretes (GPCs), which involve heat curing. A few studies have been reported on the use of such GPCs for structural applications. In this paper, studies carried out on the behaviour of room temperature cured reinforced GPC flexural members are reported. A total of eighteen beams were tested in flexure. Three conventional concrete mixes and six GPC mixes of target strength ranging from 17 to 63 MPa and having varying combinations of fly ash and slag in the binder phase were considered. The reinforcement was designed considering a balanced section for the expected characteristic strength. All the specimens were tested under two-point static loading. The studies demonstrated that the load carrying capacity of most of the GPC beams was in most cases marginally more than that of the corresponding conventional OPCC beams. The deflections at different stages including service load and peak load stage were higher for GPC beams. However, the ductility factor was comparable to that of OPCC beams. The studies showed that the conventional RC theory could be used for reinforced GPCC flexural beams for the computation of moment capacity, deflection, and crack width within reasonable limits.
A GPS/GIS method for travel mode detection in New York City

0198-9715/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2011.05.003 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 212 772 4658; fax E-mail address: gong@hunter.cuny.edu (H. Gong). 1 Present address: MTA Bus Company, Metropolitan Broadway, New York, NY 10004, United States. Handheld GPS provides a new technology to trace people’s daily travels and has been increasingly used for household travel surveys in major cities worldwide. However, methodologies have not been developed to successfully manage the enormous amount of data generated by GPS, especially in a complex urban environment such as New York City where urban canyon effects are significant and transportation networks are complicated. We develop a GIS algorithm that automatically processes the data from GPSbased travel surveys and detects five travel modes (walk, car, bus, subway, and commuter rail) from a multimodal transportation network in New York City. The mode detection results from the GIS algorithm are checked against the travel diaries from two small handheld GPS surveys. The combined success rate is a promising 82.6% (78.9% for one survey and 86.0% for another). Challenges we encountered in the mode detection process, ways we developed to meet these challenges, as well as possible future improvement to the GPS/GIS method are discussed in the paper, in order to provide a much-needed methodology to process GPS-based travel data for other cities. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Psychosocial assistance to students with posttraumatic stress disorder in primary and secondary schools in post-war Bosnia Herzegovina.

BACKGROUND
The 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) has had a tremendous impact on civilians; thousands of inhabitants were left with numerous traumatic experiences. Many children suffered or witnessed horrifying acts of violence and aggression. Although young trauma victims are often resilient, many experience mental health difficulties, including PTSD. The aim of the study was to estimate whether psychosocial support given by the School Project of Humanitarian Association of " Prijateljice" reduced posttraumatic consequences in students in primary and secondary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina after 1992-1995 war.


SUBJECTS AND METHODS
A stratified sample of 336 students in primary and secondary schools located in two entities of North-East Bosnia and Herzegovina, involved in psychosocial support, was compared with 72 voluntarily selected same-age students from the same schools who were not involved in this project. Data were collected on two occasions, beginning of December 2005 and end of May 2006, by using a self-evaluation survey method for measuring symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to DSM IV. The Index of Children Post-traumatic reactions were used.


RESULTS
The severity of PTSD symptoms among students involved in the School Project decreased from (mean+/-standard deviation=35.3+/-10.2 to 26.7+/-8.7) (t=13.1, P<0.001, Paired sample test), whereas in the group with no psychosocial assistance this reduction was from (29.7+/-10.9 to 28.1+/-11.8) (t=0.9, P=0.396, Paired sample test).


CONCLUSION
This study suggests that work with students by giving them psychosocial support within the School Project resulted in significant reduction of PTSD symptoms' severity.
The water framework directive : action programmes and adaptation to climate change

Chapter 1: Scene Setting Chapter 2: Integrating Ecosystem and Environmental Knowledge Chapter 3: Integrating Climate Change Hazards Chapter 4: Threats to Water Resources at River Basin Scale Chapter 5: Stakeholder's views and Science-Policy Interfacing
Phenotypic and genetic evaluations of biogenic amine production by lactic acid bacteria isolated from fish and fish products.

In this work, biogenic amine production (histamine, tyramine and putrescine) by a collection of 74 lactic acid bacteria of aquatic origin has been investigated by means of amino acid decarboxylation by growth on decarboxylase differential medium, biogenic amine detection by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and decarboxylase gene detection by PCR. None of the evaluated strains showed neither production of histamine and putrescine, nor presence of the genetic determinants encoding the corresponding decarboxylase activities. However, the tyrosine decarboxylase gene (tdc) was present in all the enterococcal strains, and tyramine production was detected by TLC in all of them but Enterococcus faecium BCS59 and MV5. Analysis of the tyrosine decarboxylase operon of these strains revealed the presence of an insertion sequence upstream tdc that could be responsible for their lack of tyrosine decarboxylase activity.
Efficacy and Treatment Costs of Monotherapy with bDMARDs in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Patients Intolerant to or Inappropriate to Continue Treatment with Methotrexate

INTRODUCTION
Only limited information is available on cost efficacy of the various biological agents used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis with intolerance or for whom it would be inappropriate to continue treatment with conventional agents. We estimated the efficacy and treatment costs of monotherapy with biological agents in the treatment of this group of patients.


METHODS
Data from two previous meta-analyses in the treatment of patients who are intolerant to methotrexate (MTX), or for whom it would be inappropriate to continue treatment with MTX was used. Pharmacoeconomic comparison between biological agents was carried out to estimate the respective cost for the number needed to treat (NNT) compared to placebo using both American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria. The analysis involved the four agents approved in Italy: adalimumab (ADA), etanercept (ETN), certolizumab pegol (CTZ), and tocilizumab (TCZ). A six-month period was considered sufficient to understand the most important differences in efficacy and treatment costs. Direct medical costs, including pharmacological therapy, administration and monitoring were considered.


RESULTS
Using both ACR and EULAR criteria, TCZ (intravenous [iv]/subcutaneous [sc]) had a lower NNT than the other agents. The difference in NNT observed for ETN was more pronounced with EULAR criteria, whereas in the comparison with ADA, the most sensitive differences were observed with ACR criteria. ETN had the lowest treatment cost (€6402.19), followed by ADA (€6698.84), TCZ sc (€6887.61), and TCZ iv (€7130.83). TCZ sc had the lowest cost for NNT with both ACR and EULAR criteria. The differences compared to ETN and ADA were significant and related with the level of efficacy. Sensitivity analysis confirmed these results.


CONCLUSION
TCZ is a cost-effective therapeutic option compared to other tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors (ADA, ETA, CTZ) as first-line monotherapy for patients who are intolerant to MTX, or for whom it is inappropriate to continue treatment with MTX.


FUNDING
Roche SpA.
The Provision of Electronic Banking Services in the UK and Scandinavia

For guidance on citations see FAQs. c [not recorded] Version: Accepted Manuscript Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online's data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. ABSTRACT Electronic delivery is forecast to become a major distribution channel for many service companies, particularly those that are based upon collecting, processing and delivering information. This paper examines electronic retail banking services in two European regions, the UK and Scandinavia. A mailed questionnaire was used to understand and, where possible, quantify the external market and internal factors known to be important in the development and launch of such services. It is found that, at the time of the study, the majority of respondents in both regions are already either developing or providing electronic banking services. The factor viewed as most important in driving the provision of electronic services is a corporate vision of the future in which the banking market becomes ever more competitive and customers demand greater convenience. The nature of the customer segment that is expected to adopt such electronic services, being of high net worth, and the organisation's reputation for innovation are also considered important factors.
On a Certain Cooperative Hat Game

In 2010, Lionel Levine introduced a cooperative game, and posed the question of finding the optimal strategy. We provide an overview of prior work on this question, and describe a strategy that gives a new lower bound on the probability of victory.
Impact of sterilization on the enzymatic degradation and mechanical properties of silk biomaterials.

The effect of some sterilization methods (autoclaving and ethanol treatments) on the degradation rate and mechanical properties of two types of porous silk scaffolds (aqueous- and hexafluoroisopropanol-derived) is evaluated. Changes in secondary structure, crystal size, and supramolecular features of silk fibroin, resulting from sterilization, are tracked to elucidate molecular level effects on protease XIV enzymatic degradation and compressive mechanical properties. The structural features and pore sizes of the silk scaffolds remain intact after both sterilization processes. Autoclave sterilization dramatically reduce the degradation rate of the silk scaffolds in response to protease XIV and significantly increase mechanical properties, in contrast to scaffolds sterilized with 70% ethanol. Higher β-sheet content and larger crystal size are observed after autoclaving, unlike in response to 70% ethanol sterilization, based on examination of Fourier transform (FT) IR spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). In addition, thermal analysis finds supramolecular features within silk fibroin amorphous regions, including the glass transition temperature (Tg ), heat capacity of glass transition (ΔCp-Tg ), and thermal gravimetric degradability. Such supramolecular level changes are related to the shift in enzymatic degradation and mechanical properties due to autoclaving versus treatment with 70% EtOH. The changes in supramolecular organization in amorphous regions can retard enzyme diffusion through the glassy regions of the silk matrix or/and hinder binding of enzymes, while also stiffening these matrices.
Stimulus-response compatibility in representational space

Spatial stimulus response (S-R) compatibility designates the observation that speeded reactions to unilateral stimuli are faster for the hand ipsilateral than for the hand contralateral to the sensory hemifield containing the stimulus. In two experiments involving presentation of the numbers 1 to 11 in the center of the visual field we show (1) a left-hand reaction time (RT) advantage for numerals < 6 and a right-hand advantage for those > 6 for subjects who conceive of the numbers as distances on a ruler, and (2) a reversal of this RT advantage for subjects who conceive of them as hours on a clock face. While the results in the first task (RULER) replicate a robust finding from the neuropsychology of number processing (the "SNARC effect") those in the second task (CLOCK) show that extension of the number scale from left to right in representational space cannot be the decisive factor for the observed interaction between hand and number size. Taken together, the findings in the two tasks are best accounted for in terms of an interaction between lateralized mental representations and lateralized motor outputs (i.e. an analog of traditional spatial S-R compatibility effects in representational space). We discuss potential clinical applications of the two tasks in patients with neglect of representational space.
Forecasting stock market short-term trends using a neuro-fuzzy based methodology

0957-4174/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2009.02.043 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +3
Mutations in the gene encoding the lamin B receptor produce an altered nuclear morphology in granulocytes (Pelger–Huët anomaly)

Pelger–Huët anomaly (PHA; OMIM *169400) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by abnormal nuclear shape and chromatin organization in blood granulocytes. Affected individuals show hypolobulated neutrophil nuclei with coarse chromatin. Presumed homozygous individuals have ovoid neutrophil nuclei, as well as varying degrees of developmental delay, epilepsy and skeletal abnormalities. Homozygous offspring in an extinct rabbit lineage showed severe chondrodystrophy, developmental anomalies and increased pre- and postnatal mortality. Here we show, by carrying out a genome-wide linkage scan, that PHA is linked to chromosome 1q41–43. We identified four splice-site, two frameshift and two nonsense mutations in LBR, encoding the lamin B receptor. The lamin B receptor (LBR), a member of the sterol reductase family, is evolutionarily conserved and integral to the inner nuclear membrane; it targets heterochromatin and lamins to the nuclear membrane. Lymphoblastoid cells from heterozygous individuals affected with PHA show reduced expression of the lamin B receptor, and cells homozygous with respect to PHA contain only trace amounts of it. We found that expression of the lamin B receptor affects neutrophil nuclear shape and chromatin distribution in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings have implications for understanding nuclear envelope–heterochromatin interactions, the pathogenesis of Pelger-like conditions in leukemia, infection and toxic drug reactions, and the evolution of neutrophil nuclear shape.