LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Phase II study of vinorelbine (alternating intravenous and oral) in combination with docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer

Combination of intravenous (i.v.) vinorelbine and docetaxel was shown to be feasible and effective in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). In an effort to improve patient convenience, we investigated in first-line treatment a regimen alternating i.v. and oral vinorelbine in combination with docetaxel. Forty-nine patients (median age, 53 years) with MBC received a maximum of 6 cycles consisting of i.v. vinorelbine 20 mg/m² plus docetaxel 60 mg/m² given on day 1, and oral vinorelbine 60 mg/m² on day 15 every 3 weeks in an open-label, multicentre phase II study (recommended dose established in phase I study [1]). Sixty-three percent of the patient had received prior adjuvant chemotherapy and 78% presented visceral involvement. Twenty-four responses were documented and validated by an independent panel review, yielding response rates of 49% (95% CI: 34–64) in the 49 enrolled patients and 55.8% (95% CI: 40–71) in the 43 evaluable patients. Median duration of response was 9.4 months. Median progression-free survival and median overall survival were 5.5 and 33.2 months, respectively. Neutropenia was the main dose-limiting toxicity but complications were uncommon, four patients having experienced febrile neutropenia and one having developed neutropenic infection. Other frequently reported adverse events included alopecia, fatigue, stomatitis, constipation, diarrhoea and nausea, which were rarely severe. This regimen alternating oral and i.v. vinorelbine in combination with docetaxel is effective and manageable. Vinorelbine i.v. per oral day 1 per day 15-docetaxel day 1 every 3 weeks represents a convenient option to combine docetaxel and vinorelbine for the palliative treatment of MBC.
β-Aminobutyric acid-mediated enhancement of resistance in tobacco to tobacco mosaic virus depends on the accumulation of salicylic acid

A number of chemical and biological agents are known as inducers of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in tobacco plants. In the present study, a local spray application of the non-protein amino acid DL-β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) was effective in enhancing resistance to TMV in tobacco plants containing the N gene. In contrast, the isomer α-aminobutyric acid (AABA) showed a much lower activity whereas γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was completely inactive, indicating a strong isomer specificity of aminobutyric acid in triggering enhanced virus resistance. Rapid cell death was detected in tobacco leaf tissues after foliar application of BABA, subsequently resulting in the development of macroscopically visible, necrotic lesions. BABA-induced cell death was associated with the rapid generation of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. As further consequences, the occurrence of lipid peroxidation in treated tissues, a local and systemic increase of salicylic acid (SA) levels and the expression of PR-1a, a molecular marker of SAR in tobacco, could be observed. None of these responses was detectable after treatment with GABA. Enhancement of virus resistance by BABA was found to be strictly dependent on SA-mediated signal transduction since it could not be detected in salicylate hydroxylase (nahG) expressing transgenic tobacco plants. These findings suggest that in tobacco, primary processes triggered by foliar application of BABA, resemble those initiated by microbes during a hypersensitive response (HR) that result in SAR activation. # 2000 Academic Press
Structure-Mapping: A Theoretical Framework for Analogy

ion Anomaly No. of No. of attributes relations mopped to mapped to target target
Physical activity, social network type, and depressive symptoms in late life: an analysis of data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project.

OBJECTIVES
To clarify whether physical activity among older Americans is associated with depressive symptoms, beyond the effects of social network type, physical health, and sociodemographic characteristics.


METHOD
The analysis used data from a sub-sample, aged 65–85, from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (N=1349). Hierarchical regressions examined the respective effects of selected network types and extent of engagement in physical activity on depressive symptoms, controlling for physical health and sociodemographic background.


RESULTS
The findings showed that physical activity was correlated inversely with late life depressive symptoms. However, when interaction terms for the selected social network types and the extent of physical activity were also considered, the main effect of social network on depressive symptoms increased, while that of physical activity was eliminated.


CONCLUSIONS
The results show that older American adults embedded in family network types are at risk of limited physical activity. However, interventions aimed to increase their engagement in physical activity might help to reduce depressive symptoms within this group.
Care evaluation scale-patient version: measuring the quality of the structure and process of palliative care from the patient's perspective.

CONTEXT
Recently, greater emphasis has been placed on patient-reported outcomes. However, there are only a few measures to evaluate the quality of care from the patient's perspective.


OBJECTIVES
To report the development of a scale to measure the quality of the structure and process in palliative care from the patient's perspective and examine the reliability and validity of the scale.


METHODS
A cross-sectional anonymous questionnaire was administered to cancer patients who were being treated on an oncology inpatient ward, who visited an oncology outpatient clinic at Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, or who were in an inpatient palliative unit in Japan between August 2007 and March 2008.


RESULTS
A total of 405 cancer patients participated in the study. Factor analysis revealed that the Care Evaluation Scale-Patient version (CES-P) consisted of 23 items with eight subscales: physical care by physicians, physical care by nurses, psychoexistential care, help with decision making for patients, environment, cost, availability, and coordination/consistency. The total CES-P score was correlated with satisfaction (r = 0.63) but not with quality of life (r = 0.18). The Cronbach α coefficient of the total score was 0.97, and the intraclass correlation coefficient of the total score was 0.67. The CES-P total score was not significantly correlated with the self-reported Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ρ = -0.05).


CONCLUSION
The CES-P has sufficient validity and reliability. In addition, this scale is independent of the general physical condition of the patient.
Grinding induced subsurface cracks in silicon wafers

Silicon wafers are used for production of most microchips. Various processes are needed to transfer a silicon crystal ingot into wafers. To ensure high surface quality, the damage layer generated by each of the machining processes (such as lapping and grinding) has to be removed by its subsequent processes. Therefore it is essential to assess the subsurface damage for each machining process. This paper presents the observation of subsurface cracks in silicon wafers machined by surface grinding process. Based on cross-sectional microscopy methods, several crack configurations are identified. Samples taken from different locations on the wafers are examined to investigate the effects of sample location on crack depth. The effects of grinding parameters such as feedrate and wheel rotational speed on the depth of subsurface crack have been studied by a set of factorial design experiments. Furthermore, the relation between the depth of subsurface crack and the wheel grit size is experimentally determined.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Intersubjective consensus and the maintenance of normative shared reality

422 Ching Wan, Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University; Carlos J. Torelli, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota; Chi-yue Chiu, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. The present research was partly supported by a grant (BCS-0743119) the National Science Foundation awarded to the third author. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ching Wan, Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, HSS-04-10, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332. E-mail: WanChing@ntu.edu.sg. INTERSUBJECTIVE CONSENSUS AND NORMATIVE SHARED REALITY WAN ET AL.
Vein Detection Using Infrared for Venepuncture

Vein detection for venepuncture and biometrics is one of the most researched biomedical techniques. Problems faced in accessing veins by physicians and nurses to administer intravenous drugs make non-invasive vein detection the need of the hour. This project works on the principle of absorbance of infrared (IR) light by veins and its diffusion to surrounding tissues which makes the vein appear darker when viewed through an IR sensitive camera. One of the challenges faced while implementing this system is to make an efficient system for image acquisition and image processing at low cost. Thus, a customized sensitive camera is used to cut down the cost. This paper presents a vein detection device that uses IR light for illuminating the localized area, a modified camera for capturing images, and an image processing software. Image processing to enhance the visibility of veins is done using MATLAB. Keywords—MATLAB, Near Infrared sensors, Venepuncture, Vein detection.
Detection of Inter-Port Faults in Multi-Port Static RAMs

This paper deals with testing of inter-port faults in multiport Static Random Access Memories (SRAMs). A interport fault is caused by a short between word/bit lines of different ports in a multi-port SRAM. By considering different implementations of the SRAM and its layout, an approach which achieves 100 % coverage of fault detection, is proposed. This two-step approach is based on two novel algorithms, MMCA (Modified March C Algorithm) and WIPD (Write Inter-Port Detection). It is shown that inter-port fault detection is a combinatorial problem; hence, MMCA and WIPD must be executed multiple times depending on the types, number of ports and line arrangement in the layout.
Breastfeeding, the use of docosahexaenoic acid-fortified formulas in infancy and neuropsychological function in childhood.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation between breastfeeding, use of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-fortified formula and neuropsychological function in children.


DESIGN
Prospective cohort study.


SETTING
Southampton, UK.


SUBJECTS
241 children aged 4 years followed up from birth.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
IQ measured by the Wechsler Pre-School and Primary Scale of Intelligence (3rd edn), visual attention, visuomotor precision, sentence repetition and verbal fluency measured by the NEPSY, and visual form-constancy measured by the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (Non-Motor).


RESULTS
In unadjusted analyses, children for whom breast milk or DHA-fortified formula was the main method of feeding throughout the first 6 months of life had higher mean full-scale and verbal IQ scores at age 4 years than those fed mainly unfortified formula. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, particularly maternal IQ and educational attainment, the differences in IQ between children in the breast milk and unfortified formula groups were severely attenuated, but children who were fed DHA-fortified formula had full-scale and verbal IQ scores that were respectively 5.62 (0.98 to 10.2) and 7.02 (1.56 to 12.4) points higher than children fed unfortified formula. However, estimated total intake of DHA in milk up to age 6 months was not associated with subsequent IQ or with score on any other test.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences in children's intelligence according to type of milk fed in infancy may be due more to confounding by maternal or family characteristics than to the amount of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids they receive in milk.
Brazilian Green Propolis Compared to Miconazole Gel in the Treatment of Candida-Associated Denture Stomatitis

Aim. To evaluate the efficacy of Brazilian green propolis in comparison to miconazole gel in the treatment of Candida-associated denture stomatitis. Methods. Forty-five denture stomatitis patients, with palatal mucosa erythema levels classified according to Newtons's criteria and with positive culture to Candida spp., were randomly divided into three treatment groups: 15 received miconazole gel 2%, 15 received propolis gel 2,5%, and 15 received propolis 24% for mouthwash. After four daily use lasting two weeks, they were reexamined for the denture stomatitis degree and for a second culture of Candida. The Wilcoxon's test was applied to compare the results of clinical classification of the denture stomatitis and the Candida spp. colonies numbers, before and after each treatment. The Kruskall-Wallis's test was used to compare efficacy among the three treatment groups. Results. There were a significant reduction or complete remission of denture stomatitis (P < 0.05) and a significant decrease of Candida colonies for the three groups (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the efficacy among the treatment groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Brazilian green propolis has a similar effect as miconazole in the treatment of Candida-associated denture stomatitis being an alternative in the therapeutics of this condition.
Screening for diabetic retinopathy using digital colour photography and oral fluorescein angiography

Purpose To evaluate digital colour photography and oral fluorescein angiography (OFA) for diabetic retinopathy screening. Methods Thirty-seven patients were selected from either a diabetic retinopathy screening or a medical retina clinic. Three 45° colour digital images and a single macula 45° OFA image were taken from each eye. Standard seven- field stereo photography with ETDRS grading was used as a gold standard for data comparison. The images were assessed by two graders and the results of each method compared using the McNemar test. Results Five eyes had no diabetic retinopathy, 50 had background diabetic retinopathy, 3 had pre-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 11 had proliferative disease and 3 had quiescent post- treatment disease. Clinically significant macular oedema was present in 25 eyes and absent in 48. For grading diabetic retinopathy digital colour photography produced a sensitivity of 0.87 (specificity 0.83); OFA produced a sensitivity of 0.87 (specificity 0.80) (p = 0.1). For the detection of diabetic maculopathy, the sensitivity of digital colour photography was 0.48 (specificity of 0.95) and for OFA was 0.87 (specificity 0.87) (p < 0.01). Conclusion This pilot study has shown that both digital colour photography and OFA compare well with conventional methods for diabetic retinopathy screening. The results encourage the further evaluation of OFA in the screening for diabetic maculopathy.
Pattern occurrence statistics and applications to the Ramsey theory of unavoidable patterns

As suggested by Currie, we apply the probabilistic method to problems regarding pattern avoidance. Using techniques from analytic combinatorics, we calculate asymptotic pattern occurrence statistics and use them in conjunction with the probabilistic method to establish new results about the Ramsey theory of unavoidable patterns in the full word case (both nonabelian sense and abelian sense) and in the partial word case. 
Keywords: Combinatorics on words; Partial words; Unavoidable patterns; Abelian patterns; Probabilistic method; Analytic combinatorics; Ramsey theory.
Synergistic circuit and system design for energy-efficient and robust domain wall caches

Non-volatile memories are gaining significant attention for embedded cache application due to their low standby power and excellent retention. Domain wall memory (DWM) is one possible candidate due to its ability to store multiple bits per cell in order to break the density barrier. Additionally, it provides low standby power, fast access time, good endurance and retention. However, it suffers from poor write latency, shift latency, shift power and write power. DWM is sequential in nature and latency of read/write operations depends on the offset of the bit from the read/write head. This paper investigates the circuit design challenges such as bitcell layout, head positioning, utilization factor of the nanowire, shift power, shift latency and provides solutions to deal with these issues. A synergistic system is proposed by combining circuit techniques such as merged read/write heads (for compact layout), flipped-bitcell and shift gating (for shift power optimization), wordline (WL) strapping (for access latency), shift circuit design with micro-architectural techniques such as segmented cache to realize energy-efficient and robust DWM cache. Simulations show 3-33% better performance and 1.25X-14.4X better power over a wide range of PARSEC benchmarks.
Ethnic diversity and economic development

This paper analyzes the role that different indices and dimensions of ethnicity play in the process of economic development. Firstly, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of alternative data sources for the construction of indices of religious and ethnic heterogeneity. Secondly, we compare the index of fractionalization and the index of polarization. We argue that an index of the family of discrete polarization measures is the adequate indicator to measure potential conflict. We find that ethnic (religious) polarization has a large and negative effect on economic development through the reduction of investment and the increase of government consumption and the probability of a civil conflict. D 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V. JEL classification: O11; Z12; O55
Several current-use, non-PBDE brominated flame retardants are highly bioaccumulative: evidence from field determined bioaccumulation factors.

With the phaseout of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), some non-PBDE BFRs have prompted to be alternatives to the discontinued PBDEs. To assess the bioaccumulation potential of these chemicals, field bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) for several non-PBDE BFRs including hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), pentabromotoluene (PBT), pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), and hexabromobenzene (HBB), were determined in the aquatic species from a natural pond in an electronic waste recycling site in South China. The log BAFs ranged 2.58-6.01, 3.24-5.58, 3.44-5.98, 2.85-5.98, 3.32-6.08, 2.04-4.77, 2.72-4.09 and 3.31-5.54 for α-HBCD, β-HBCD, γ-HBCD, ∑HBCDs, BTBPE, PBT, PBEB, and HBB, respectively. The log BAF values for HBCD isomers, BTBPE, and HBB were greater than 3.7 (corresponding BAF value 5000) in most of the investigated species, demonstrating their highly bioaccumulative properties. α-, β-, and γ-HBCDs, BTBPE, and HBB appeared comparable or had even greater BAFs compared to PBDE congeners with similar K(OW), suggesting that these BFRs may have a potentially high environmental risk. The BAFs for the given BFR compound were largely variable between species, due to the species-specific feeding ecology, trophic level, and metabolic capacity for these pollutants. Positive linear relationships between log BAF and log K(OW) (r² = 0.59, p = 0.04), and molecular weight (r² = 0.54, p = 0.06) of non-PBDE BFRs were observed in the species with low trophic level (Chinese mysterysnail), suggesting that the chemical's physicochemical properties also played key roles in the bioaccumulation processes.
Chronic graft-versus-host disease treated with UVB phototherapy

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a major complication of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Immunosuppressive treatment regimens carry the potential of causing severe morbidity and mortality, so that additional modes of therapy with fewer side-effects are clearly needed. Five cGVHD patients (sclerodermoid cGVHD in two patients, lichenoid cGVHD in one patient and intraoral cGVHD in two patients), who had not responded to standard immunosuppressive drugs, were treated with adjuvant UVB phototherapy. The patient with lichenoid cGVHD experienced complete clearing of cutaneous lesions, whereas both patients with sclerodermoid cGVHD experienced significant relief of pruritus, but showed no change of the sclerodermoid skin lesions. Intraoral lesions cleared in one patient. The effects of UVB phototherapy were furthermore documented by measurement of skin viscoelasticity and mouth opening. No side-effects were encountered. This preliminary study suggests that UVB phototherapy is useful as an adjuvant therapeutic modality in intraoral and cutaneous lichenoid cGVHD.
Phonological awareness in illterates: Observations from Serbo-Croatian

Adult illiterate and semi-literate speakers of Serbo-Croatian were assessed on reading, writing, phonological, and control tasks. Most subjects had acquired measurable literacy skills despite a documented lack of formal instruction. Individual differences in these skills were highly specific. They were related to measures of phoneme segmentation and alphabet knowledge, but only weakly related to general cognitive abilities. Three groups, categorized with respect to subjects' ability to identify the letters of their Cyrillic alphabet, differed on phoneme deletion and phoneme counting tasks but not on syllable counting, picture vocabulary, or tone counting tasks. Alphabet knowledge was more tightly coupled with phoneme awareness than has been found in speakers of English. Cross-language similarities and differences were discussed, highlighting the role that phonological transparency of the orthography may play in the acquisition ofliteracy.
Evaluation of a randomised controlled trial of adult asthma education in a hospital setting.

BACKGROUND
Although patient education is a key step in the Australian Asthma Management Plan, its impact has not been assessed in a hospital outpatient asthma clinic.


METHODS
A controlled trial was undertaken in 125 adults with asthma recruited from the Alfred Hospital Asthma and Allergy Clinic and randomly allocated to an intervention (n = 64) or control (n = 61) group. Subjects in the intervention group attended three education sessions, each of 90 minutes duration, spread over three successive weeks. Asthma knowledge, quality of life, self-management skills, and attitudes and beliefs about asthma were assessed by questionnaires at baseline and after six months. The intervention group was also assessed immediately after the three education sessions. The control group was evaluated after six months of usual care.


RESULTS
Asthma knowledge improved significantly in the intervention group after three education sessions (p = 0.0001) and this was retained six months later (p = 0.03). The impact of asthma on quality of life decreased significantly immediately after intervention (p = 0.03) but this was not maintained six months later (p = 0.35). On the other hand, the intervention had little impact on self-management skills or attitudes and beliefs about asthma. However, the control group had also improved their knowledge, quality of life and self-management skills after six months of usual care. The difference in mean change in knowledge score at six months between the intervention and control groups was not significant (p = 0.51).


CONCLUSIONS
In contrast to some other studies, a limited asthma education programme in a hospital outpatient setting had a positive impact on patients' knowledge of asthma, but not on their quality of life, self-management skills, or attitudes and beliefs about asthma.