LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The vitamin D analog, MART-10, represses metastasis potential via downregulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in pancreatic cancer cells.

Pancreatic cancer (PDA) is a devastating disease and there is no effective treatment available at present. To develop new regiments against PDA is urgently needed. Previously we have shown that vitamin D analog, MART-10 (19-nor-2α-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1α,25(OH)2D3), exerted potent antiproliferative effect on PDA in vitro and in vivo without causing hypercalcemia. Since metastasis is the major cause of PDA-related death, we therefore investigate the anti-metastasis effect of MART-10 on PDA. Our results showed that both 1α,25(OH)2D3 and MART-10 repressed migration and invasion of BxPC-3 and PANC cells with MART-10 much more potent than 1α,25(OH)2D3. 1α,25(OH)2D3 and MART-10 inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in pancreatic cancer cells through downregulation of Snail, Slug, and Vimentin expression in BxPC-3 and PANC cells. MART-10 further blocked cadherin switch (from E-cadherin to N-cadherin) in BxPC-3 cells. The F-actin synthesis in the cytoplasm of BxPC-3 cells was also repressed by 1α,25(OH)2D3 and MART-10 as determined by immunofluorescence stain. Both 1α,25(OH)2D3 and MART-10 decreased MMP-2 and -9 secretion in BxPC-3 cells as determined by western blot and zymography. Collectively, MART-10 should be deemed as a promising regimen against PDA.
Objectively Measured Sedentary Time Is Related to Quality of Life among Cancer Survivors

PURPOSE
While exercise has been shown to be beneficial in improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among cancer survivors, evidence is limited on the independent role of sedentary behavior. We examined how objectively measured sedentary time was associated with HRQOL among long-term cancer survivors.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study included 54 cancer survivors, on average 3.4 years postdiagnosis, who were enrolled into an exercise trial designed to improve cognitive function. At baseline, we measured sedentary time and moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity with the ActivPal, cardiorespiratory fitness with treadmill testing, and self-reported HRQOL with an established scale (SF-36). In multivariate models, we regressed HRQOL on sedentary time (percent of waking time spent sitting and lying).


RESULTS
Survivors with higher sedentary time had significantly poorer physical functioning (β = -0.50, p = 0.028), general health (β = -0.75, ptrend = 0.004), and physical summary scores (β = -0.34, p = 0.003). We did not observe associations between sedentary time and role-physical (p = 0.342), bodily-pain (p = 0.117), vitality (p = 0.095), social functioning (p = 0.407), role-emotional (p = 0.509), mental health (p = 0.494), or mental summary scores (p = 0.527).


CONCLUSION
In this cross-sectional study of cancer survivors, we observed deleterious associations between sedentary time and aspects of physical HRQOL. Future prospective studies of sedentary time and HRQOL are needed to establish temporality and to facilitate the design of effective health promotion interventions for cancer survivors.
How Muslim and Non-Muslim Chaplains Serve Muslim Patients? Does the Interfaith Chaplaincy Model have Room for Muslims’ Experiences?

Chaplaincy is typically practiced within the contexts of the Jewish and Christian traditions, and little attention has been paid to the influence of the Islamic perspective of nursing and caring. Therefore, many Muslim patients might not receive appropriate care for their religious and spiritual needs, especially as they relate to daily religious practices and worship, medical ethics, and end-of-life treatment choices. This study examined Muslim and non-Muslim chaplains’ approaches to pastoral care used with Muslim patients in New York City hospitals. The study used in-depth interviews with 33 Muslim and non-Muslim chaplains. The results indicate areas of both convergence and divergence.
A phase II study of imatinib mesylate and capecitabine in metastatic breast cancer: Southwest Oncology Group Study 0338.

BACKGROUND
Imatinib mesylate is a potent inhibitor of the Bcr-Abl, c-Kit, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) tyrosine kinases. On the basis of variable expression of c-Kit and PDGFR in breast cancer and of in vitro data supporting synergy between imatinib and capecitabine, the Southwest Oncology Group conducted a phase II trial of the combination in metastatic breast cancer.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Eligible patients had progressive, measurable metastatic breast cancer and received<or=2 previous chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease. Previous 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine for metastatic disease was not allowed. Patients were accrued on a 2-stage design and received imatinib mesylate 400 mg by mouth daily and capecitabine at 1000 mg/m2 by mouth twice daily for 14 days of a 21-day cycle. The primary endpoint was the confirmed response rate (RR). Tumors were evaluated for c-Kit, PDGFR-beta, and hormone receptor expression.


RESULTS
Nineteen fully evaluable patients were enrolled, with a confirmed RR of 11% (95% CI, 1%-33%). Eleven percent had unconfirmed partial responses, and 42% had stable disease. The trial did not accrue to the second stage. The estimated 6-month progression-free survival was 16% (95% CI, 0%-32%), and the median overall survival was 14 months (95% CI, 7-15 months). The combination was well tolerated. Of 8 available tumor samples, 2 stained for c-Kit, and all had stromal staining for PDGFR-beta.


CONCLUSION
In unselected patients, the combination of imatinib mesylate and capecitabine was well tolerated but did not result in improved RRs compared to those reported with capecitabine alone.
Robust visual tracking using autoregressive hidden Markov Model

Recent studies on visual tracking have shown significant improvement in accuracy by handling the appearance variations of the target object. Whereas most studies present schemes to extract the time-invariant characteristics of the target and adaptively update the appearance model, the present paper concentrates on modeling the probabilistic dependency between sequential target appearances (Fig. 1-(a)). To actualize this interest, a new Bayesian tracking framework is formulated under the autoregressive Hidden Markov Model (AR-HMM), where the probabilistic dependency between sequential target appearances is implied. During the learning phase at each time step, the proposed tracker separates formerly seen target samples into several clusters based on their visual similarity, and learns cluster-specific classifiers as multiple appearance models, each of which represents a certain type of the target appearance. Then the dependency between these appearance models is learned. During the searching phase, the target state is estimated by inferring the most probable appearance model under the consideration of its dependency on formerly utilized appearance models. The proposed method is tested on 12 challenging video sequences containing targets with abrupt appearance variations, and demonstrates that it outperforms current state-of-the-art methods in accuracy.
Impact of patient-prosthesis mismatch and aortic valve design on coronary flow reserve after aortic valve replacement.

OBJECTIVES
This prospective-randomized study investigated the effect of aortic valve design and patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM) on coronary flow reserve (CFR) after mechanical or biological aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS).


BACKGROUND
Coronary flow reserve may be an important parameter of long-term survival after AVR in patients with AS. Reduced CFR may contribute to more cardiovascular events and greater rates of mortality.


METHODS
A total of 48 patients undergoing AVR underwent magnetic resonance imaging for the measurement of coronary flow preoperatively, 5 days postoperatively, and at 6-month follow-up with measurement of CFR. Patients scheduled for mechanical AVR were randomized to a tilting disc or bileaflet prosthesis (n = 12 in each group). For biological AVR, patients were scheduled to receive a stented (n = 12) or stentless (n = 12) valve. Patients also underwent echocardiography with measurement of transvalvular pressure gradients and left ventricular mass regression.


RESULTS
Postoperatively, coronary flow increased significantly in all groups (p < 0.001). Only stentless valves demonstrated a normal CFR (3.4 +/- 0.3 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.1 for stented biological valves, 2.1 +/- 0.2 for tilting disc, and 2.2 +/- 0.3 for bileaflet mechanical valves). Patient-prosthesis mismatch with an indexed effective orifice area <0.85 cm2/m2 led to decreased rates of CFR in the tilting disc, stentless, and stented groups. Pressure gradients were 14 +/- 3 mm Hg for tilting disc, 12 +/- 4 mm Hg for bileaflet, 19 +/- 6 mm Hg for stented, and 10 +/- 4 mm Hg for stentless valves.


CONCLUSIONS
Normalization of CFR after AVR in patients with AS was observed only for stentless valves. Coronary flow reserve might explain the excellent long-term results for stentless valves. (Impact of Patient-Prosthesis Mismatch on Coronary Flow Reserve; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00310947?order=1; NCT00310947).
Energy Savings Calculations for Heat Island Reduction Strategies in Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City

In 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the “Heat Island Reduction Initiative”, to quantify the potential benefits of Heat Island Reduction (HIR) strategies (i.e., shade trees, reflective roofs, reflective pavements and urban vegetation) to reduce cooling energy use in buildings, lower the ambient air temperature and improve urban air quality in cities, and reduce COZ emissions from power plants. Under this initiative, the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project (UHIPP) was created with the objective to investigate the potential of HIR strategies in residential and commercial buildings in three initial UHIPP cities: Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City. This paper summarizes our efforts to calculate the annual energy savings, peak power avoidance and annual COZ reduction of HIR strategies in the three initial cities. In this analysis, we focused on thee building types that offer most savings potential: single-family residence, office and retail store. Each building type was characterized in detail by old or new construction and with a gas furnace or an electric heat pump. We defined prototypical building characteristics for each building type and simulated the impact of HIR strategies on building cooling and heating energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2. lE model. Our simulations included the impact of (1) strategically-placed shade trees near ‘buildings [direct eflect], (2) use of high-albedo roofing material on building [direct efiect], (3) combined strategies 1 and 2 [direct eflect], (4) urban reforestation with high-albedo pavements and building surfaces [indirect eflect] and (5) combined strategies 1, 2 and 4 [direct and indirect ejfects]. We then estimated the total roof area of air-conditioned buildings in each city using readily obtainable data to calculate the metropolitan-wide impact of HIR strategies. The results show, that in Baton Rouge, potential annual energy savings of $ 15M could be realized by rate-payers from the combined direct and indirect effects of HIR strategies. Additionally, peak power avoidance is estimated at 133 MW and the reduction in annual carbon emissions at 41 kt. In Sacramento, the potential annual energy savings is estimated at $26M, with an avoidance of 486 MW in peak power and a reduction in annual carbon of 92 kt. In Salt Lake City, the potential annual energy savings is estimated at $4M, with an avoidance of 85 MW in peak power and a reduction in annual carbon of 20 kt.
A dose-escalation and pharmacokinetic study of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin in patients with advanced solid tumors.

BACKGROUND
Gemcitabine and oxaliplatin have broad antineoplastic activity and favorable toxicity. We conducted a phase I study to determine the maximum tolerated doses (MTDs) and dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) of the combination in patients with advanced solid tumors.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Sixty-eight patients with advanced stage solid tumors were enrolled. Treatment was first-line for 35% of patients, second-line for 27%, and third-line for 38%. Gemcitabine was administered at escalating doses of 1000-2000 mg/m(2) as a 30-min intravenous (i.v.) infusion on days 1 and 8 and oxaliplatin at 60-130 mg/m(2) as a 4-h i.v. infusion on day 8 every 21 days without growth factor support.


RESULTS
The MTD was defined at gemcitabine 1800 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 and oxaliplatin 130 mg/m(2) on day 8. Twelve dose levels were evaluated and DLTs occurring during the first cycle consisted of grade 4 neutropenia, grade 3 asthenia or mucositis and grade 1-3 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia resulting in treatment delays. A total of 266 cycles were administered with only one episode of febrile neutropenia and no toxic deaths. Seven (3%) and 26 (10%) cycles were complicated by grade 4 and 3 neutropenia, respectively, three (1%) and 13 (5%) by grade 4 and 3 thrombocytopenia, and eight (3%) by grade 3 anemia. The most common non-hematological toxicity was grade 2/3 asthenia observed in 23% of cycles. Responses were observed in patients with a variety of epithelial neoplasms. The pharmacokinetic study revealed no significant interaction between the two drugs.


CONCLUSIONS
The combination of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin has excellent tolerability and promising activity in patients with advanced solid tumors. As the MTD exceeds the recommended single-agent dose for gemcitabine, and a dose-response effect has not been established, we recommend using both drugs at full doses, e.g. gemcitabine 1200-1400 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 and oxaliplatin 130 mg/m(2) on day 8 for further phase II studies.
[Personality disorders, psychopathy and serial killers].

OBJECTIVE
To illustrate the basic characteristics of several specific personality disorders, focusing mainly in antisocial personality disorder. The differences between antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy are highlighted. Serial killers and its psychopathic aspects are also discussed.


METHOD
A bibliographic review was completed in order to outline convergences and divergences among different authors about this controversial issue, especially those concerning the possibility of treatment.


RESULTS
While anti-social personality disorder is a medical diagnosis, the term "psychopathy" (which belongs to the sphere of forensic psychiatry) may be understood as a "legal diagnosis". It is not still possible to identify an effective treatment for serial killers.


CONCLUSION
Personality disorders, especially of the antisocial type, still represent a formidable challenge to forensic psychiatry today. Questions as yet unanswered include the best and most humane place for patients with this condition and the nature of a standardised treatment recommendation.
Comparative study of laparoscopic and open distal pancreatectomy.

BACKGROUND
Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) has been shown to be an effective surgical option for benign lesions in the body and tail of the pancreas. However, its advantages and disadvantages have not been well characterized. In this study, we compared the outcomes of LDP and open pancreatectomy performed in our clinic.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Peri- and postoperative outcomes were retrospectively compared between patients with benign pancreatic disorders who underwent open distal pancreatectomy (ODP) (n = 35) and those who underwent LDP (n = 40). The peri- and postoperative factors analyzed included operative time, blood loss, hospital stay, postoperative recovery, biochemical findings, and complications.


RESULTS
LDP was associated with significantly less operative blood loss (363 versus 606 mL; P = 0.001) and shorter hospital stay (22 versus 27 day; P = 0.009), but longer operative time (342 versus 250 min; P = 0.000), compared with ODP. There were no significant differences between the two groups in complication rates or postoperative recovery, except for the significantly shorter duration of postoperative pain-killer intake and earlier improvement of the biochemical analysis in LDP than in ODP.


CONCLUSIONS
LDP appears to be a safe, desirable procedure for the management of benign pancreatic diseases, with outcomes similar to ODP.
OpenCL: A Parallel Programming Standard for Heterogeneous Computing Systems

The OpenCL standard offers a common API for program execution on systems composed of different types of computational devices such as multicore CPUs, GPUs, or other accelerators.
Health-Related Quality of Life, Treatment Satisfaction, and Costs Associated With Intraperitoneal Versus Subcutaneous Insulin Administration in Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of continuous intraperitoneal insulin infusion (CIPII) compared with subcutaneous insulin on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and treatment satisfaction, and to perform a cost analysis in type 1 diabetes.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
We used an open-label, prospective, crossover, randomized, 16-month study (N = 24). HRQOL and patient satisfaction were assessed with questionnaires (the 36-item short-form health survey [SF-36], the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index [WHO-5], and the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire [DTSQ]). Direct costs of CIPII and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) were compared.


RESULTS
Questionnaire scores were higher with CIPII than with subcutaneous therapy. Yearly direct pump- and procedure-associated costs for CIPII were estimated at 10,910 euroscompared with 4,810 euros for CSII.


CONCLUSIONS
Apart from improving glycemic control, CIPII improved HRQOL and treatment satisfaction compared with subcutaneous insulin. Direct pump- and procedure-associated costs are considerably higher for CIPII, however.
Randomized, double-blind, dose-escalation trial of triptorelin for ovary protection in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the dose of triptorelin that is sufficient to maintain complete ovarian suppression in female patients with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who require cyclophosphamide therapy, to determine the length of time needed to achieve ovarian suppression after initiation of triptorelin treatment, and to investigate the safety of triptorelin.


METHODS
In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study, female patients ages <21 years were randomized 4:1 to receive triptorelin (n = 25) or placebo (n = 6). The starting doses of triptorelin were 25, 50, 75, and 100 μg/kg, and the dose was escalated until complete ovarian suppression was maintained. The primary outcome was the weight-adjusted dose of triptorelin that provided complete ovarian suppression in at least 90% of the patients, as determined by gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist stimulation testing. The secondary outcome was the period of time required to achieve ovarian suppression, as measured by unstimulated follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels after the initiation of triptorelin treatment.


RESULTS
Treatment with triptorelin at a weight-adjusted dose of 120 μg/kg body weight provided sustained complete ovarian suppression in 90% of the patients. After administration of the initial dose of triptorelin, 22 days were required to achieve complete ovarian suppression. The rates of adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) per 100 patient-months of followup were not higher in the triptorelin group compared with the placebo group (for AEs, 189 versus 362; for SAEs, 2.1 versus 8.5).


CONCLUSION
High doses of triptorelin are needed to achieve and maintain complete ovarian suppression, but such doses appear to be well tolerated in adolescent female patients with childhood-onset SLE. Our data suggest that a lag time of 22 days after initiation of triptorelin treatment is required before cyclophosphamide therapy is started or continued.
Dyspnoea assessed by visual analogue scale in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease during progressive and high intensity exercise.

BACKGROUND
A study was carried out to determine whether rating of dyspnoea by means of a visual analogue scale during a progressive exercise test is affected by the subject's awareness of the progressive nature of the protocol.


METHODS
Nineteen patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (FEV1 mean (SE) 1.06 (0.07) 1) were studied. A preliminary incremental test was carried out with a work rate increasing by 10 watts every minute until the subject could no longer exercise, to determine the maximum work load (Wmax) and to anchor the upper end of the visual analogue scale. This was followed by two exercise tests performed one day apart in randomised sequence, with two different protocols. One was a 12 minute protocol that included two sudden bursts of three minute high intensity exercise, up to the subject's Wmax, each preceded by three minutes of low level exercise. The other test was a conventional three minute incremental test lasting 12 minutes. On both study days the only information given to the subject about the temporal profile of load was that a change would be made every three minutes. The relation between dyspnoea, as assessed by the visual analogue scale, and ventilation, measured during high intensity or progressive exercise, was studied.


RESULTS
The mean (SE) rates of increase of dyspnoea with increasing ventilation (% of line length 1(-1) min) obtained by linear regression analysis were similar for the two tests (2.86 (0.20) for progressive exercise and 2.87 (0.25) for high intensity exercise); it was 2.59 (0.25) for the initial burst of high intensity exercise when the data on this were analysed separately. In six subjects with stable disease studied again two months later the reproducibility of the rating of dyspnoea was reasonably good for both protocols.


CONCLUSION
The results suggest that in most patients with chronic obstructive lung disease the assessment of exercise induced dyspnoea by means of a visual analogue scale during a progressive exercise test is not affected by the subject's awareness of the progressive increase in work intensity.
An empirical analysis of classification techniques for predicting academic performance

A multiclass classification refers to the classification of the instance into more than two classes. In real life many classification problem requires decisions among a set of contending classes. Multiclass classification and prediction is suitable for hand written digit recognition, hand written character recognition, speech recognition and body parts recognition etc. This paper compares five classification algorithms namely Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes, Naïve Bayes Tree, K-Nearest Neighbor and Bayesian Network algorithms for predicting students' grade particularly for engineering students. This is a four class prediction problem. Student's marks are classified into four classes A, B, C and F respectively. Initially complete data set is used to build the classifiers then Bootstrap method is used to improve the accuracy of the each classifier. Bootstrap method is a resample function available in WEKA tool kit. The excellent results of this function can be seen through IBK, Decision Tree and Bayes Net algorithm. However the overall results of all four algorithms are good but the results of individual classes for Naïve Bayes and NB Tree is not sufficient enough for the individual class prediction particularly for this study. This paper also presents a comparative study of the previous work related to student's performance predictions.