LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Pramipexole and levodopa in early parkinson’s disease

Background and Objective: In chronic disease, treatment effects and costs accumulate over time; hence, the choice of time horizon in cost-effectiveness analysis can be particularly important. In this article we analyse the dynamic changes in cumulative costs, effects and incremental cost effectiveness of two competing drug strategies in patients with early Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: Three hundred and one subjects with PD were randomised to initial pramipexole or levodopa and followed every 3 months over a 4-year period. Healthcare resource use was recorded in patient diaries and valued using a variety of sources at year 2002 $US values. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured using the EuroQoL EQ-5D. The study was conducted from a US societal perspective. Missing data were imputed using a multivariate fixed-effects model. Additional quality adjusted life years (QALY) gained by using pramipexole compared with levodopa were estimated as the area between the normalised treatment HRQoL profiles. The QALYs and costs for each treatment arm were calculated for various study horizons. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and the net monetary benefit (NB) [using $US50 000, $US100 000 and $US150 000 as the value of a QALY] were estimated, and were bootstrapped to calculate the standard errors. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEAC) were built to estimate the probability that pramipexole was cost effective given different societal values of QALY, for various study horizons. We conducted sensitivity analyses on the ICER and the NB to test their robustness to various assumptions about missing data, for various subpopulations and under changes in the drug prices. Results: Under the base-case assumptions, the ICER for pramipexole was $US42 989 per QALY. Using the CEAC approach, the probability that pramipexole was cost effective relative to levodopa over the first 4 years was 0.57, 0.77 and 0.82 when a QALY was valued at $US50 000, $US100 000, and $US150 000, respectively. Over time, the ICER for pramipexole improved and uncertainty around the ICER decreased. If, after treatment withdrawal, HRQoL improved in pramipexole subjects and declined in levodopa subjects (best-case scenario for pramipexole), the probability of pramipexole being cost effective increased to 0.88, 0.96 and 0.98, respectively. Factors that improved the ICER of pramipexole were a decrease in the relative price of pramipexole and having low HRQoL or depression at baseline. Conclusions: The cost effectiveness of pramipexole compared with levodopa in the treatment of early PD increased as the time horizon of the clinical trial extended from 2 to 4 years. Our results suggest that pramipexole is more cost effective for patients with depression and low baseline HRQoL than in other patient subgroups.
Efficacy and toxicities of concurrent chemoradiation for elderly patients with esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND
To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of concurrent chemoradiation in patients with esophageal cancer aged 75 and older.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twenty-two elderly patients were treated with concurrent chemoradiation. Seventeen received a combination of cisplatin/carboplatin and 5-fluorouracil, 5 received daily 5-fluorouracil. Total doses of radiotherapy ranged from 50 to 65 Gy.


RESULTS
Nineteen out of 22 patients completed the planned chemoradiation. Five in 8 patients (63%) with T1-2 lesion and 1 in 14 patients (7o%) with T3-4 lesion achieved complete response (p=0.011). Only 2 patients experienced grade 3 toxicities. Grade 2 or worse hematological toxicities were less frequently observed in patients who received local-field radiotherapy (p=0.006). There was no isolated lymph node recurrence. The median survival time was 9 months.


CONCLUSION
This study showed the potential for chemoradiation in elderly patients. A planning target volume of radiotherapy should include only clinically involved lesions in this setting.
The performance measurement revolution 205 The performance measurement revolution : why now and what next ?

Asks why business performance measurement has become so topical, so recently. Argues that there are seven main reasons: the changing nature of work; increasing competition; specific improvement initiatives; national and international quality awards; changing organisational roles; changing external demands; and the power of information technology. Evidence to support this assertion is drawn from the academic and practitioner literatures, interviews and discussions with people specialising in the field and a broad review of the current state-of-the-art in business performance measurement. Presents a framework onto which current research in business performance measurement can be mapped and identifies areas which require further work. Introduction Business performance measurement is on the management agenda. Professional conference organisers such as Business Intelligence and IIR recognise this. Hence the plethora of conferences on “Business Performance Measurement”. The RSA (Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce) recognise this, as demonstrated by the findings of their inquiry into the role of tomorrow’s company: To achieve sustainable business success in the demanding world marketplace, a company must ... use relevant performance measures (RSA, 1994). Politicians recognise this, as can be seen by the current and previous UK Government’s obsession with league tables, and the fact that the above quote appeared in one of the UK’s White Papers on competitiveness. What is not immediately obvious is why business performance measurement is on the agenda. What is it that makes the topic so relevant to management today? After all, it has long been recognised that performance measures are an integral part of the planning and control cycle (Barnard, 1962) and managers must have been planning and controlling the deployment of resources since the first organisation was established. Indeed, Chandler (1977) argues that most of the basic methods used to manage big businesses today were in place by 1910: In 1903, three Du Pont cousins consolidated their small enterprises with many other small single-unit family firms. They then completely reorganised the American explosives industry and installed an organisational structure that incorporated the “best practice” of the day. The highly rational managers at Du Pont continued to perfect these techniques, so that by 1910 that company was employing nearly all the basic methods that are currently used in managing big business (Chandler, 1977, p. 417). International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, 1999, pp. 205-228, © MCB University Press, 0144-3577
Defecation pain and coccydynia due to an anteverted coccyx: a case report

INTRODUCTION
Defecation pain is a common problem with many etiologies implicated. Elucidating a cause requires a thorough medical history, examination and appropriate investigations, which may include endoscopy, barium enema, examination under anesthesia and magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography. Coccydynia is a term used to describe pain in the region of the coccyx, often due to abnormal mobility of the coccyx. Non-surgical management options remain the gold-standard for coccydynia with surgery being reserved for complicated cases.


CASE PRESENTATION
This is a case of a 67-year-old Caucasian man who presented with a two-and-a-half-year history of worsening rectal pain.


CONCLUSION
To the best of our knowledge, we describe the first case in the literature of an abnormally mobile anteverted coccyx causing predominantly defecation pain and coccydynia, successfully treated by coccygectomy. When first-line investigations fail to elucidate a cause of defecation pain one must, in the presence of unusual symptoms, consider musculoskeletal pathologies emanating from the coccyx and an orthopedic consultation must then be sought for diagnostic purposes.
Junk DNA and the long non-coding RNA twist in cancer genetics

The central dogma of molecular biology states that the flow of genetic information moves from DNA to RNA to protein. However, in the last decade this dogma has been challenged by new findings on non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as microRNAs (miRNAs). More recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted much attention due to their large number and biological significance. Many lncRNAs have been identified as mapping to regulatory elements including gene promoters and enhancers, ultraconserved regions and intergenic regions of protein-coding genes. Yet, the biological function and molecular mechanisms of lncRNA in human diseases in general and cancer in particular remain largely unknown. Data from the literature suggest that lncRNA, often via interaction with proteins, functions in specific genomic loci or use their own transcription loci for regulatory activity. In this review, we summarize recent findings supporting the importance of DNA loci in lncRNA function and the underlying molecular mechanisms via cis or trans regulation, and discuss their implications in cancer. In addition, we use the 8q24 genomic locus, a region containing interactive SNPs, DNA regulatory elements and lncRNAs, as an example to illustrate how single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located within lncRNAs may be functionally associated with the individual’s susceptibility to cancer.
Interaction Between Internal Antenna and External Antenna of Mobile Phone and Hand Effect

In this paper, we begin by presenting a multiband antenna for mobile phone applications operating in GSM, DCS, PCS, UMTS, Bluetooth, and LTE bands. The antenna platform includes the ground plane, the battery, the camera, and other paraphernalia that the mobile phone environment typically comprises. Results show that the platform has a significant effect on the performance of the antenna, both in terms of its bandwidth and the number of its resonance frequencies. In addition, metal rings, frequently used in a mobile phone for mechanical reasons, can also have a significant influence on the performance of the antenna in the phone. Equivalent circuits and current distributions have been derived with the objective of investigating the effects of the metal ring that embrace the mobile phone. We investigate ways in which we can modify the ring so as to restore the desired performance of the antenna, which has been previously designed to operate in the phone environment but without the presence of the ring. We show how we can control the resonances of the ring by using capacitance loading and lower its Q by loading the ring resistively at a number of different strategic locations along the ring.
Influence of hypothermia on right atrial cardiomyocyte apoptosis in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement

BACKGROUND
There is increasing evidence that programmed cell death can be triggered during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and may be involved in postoperative complications. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether apoptosis occurs during aortic valve surgery and whether modifying temperature during CPB has any influence on cardiomyocyte apoptotic death rate.


METHODS
20 patients undergoing elective aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis were randomly assigned to either moderate hypothermic (ModHT group, n = 10, 28 degrees C) or mild hypothermic (MiHT group, n = 10, 34 degrees C) CPB. Myocardial samples were obtained from the right atrium before and after weaning from CPB. Specimens were examined for apoptosis by flow cytometry analysis of annexin V-propidium iodide (PI) and Fas death receptor staining.


RESULTS
In the ModHT group, non apoptotic non necrotic cells (annexin negative, PI negative) decreased after CPB, while early apoptotic (annexin positive, PI negative) and late apoptotic or necrotic (PI positive) cells increased. In contrast, no change in the different cell populations was observed over time in the MiHT group. Fas expression rose after reperfusion in the ModHT group but not in MiHT patients, in which there was even a trend for a lower Fas staining after CPB (p = 0.08). In ModHT patients, a prolonged ischemic time tended to induce a higher increase of Fas (p = 0.061).


CONCLUSION
Our data suggest that apoptosis signal cascade is activated at early stages during aortic valve replacement under ModHT CPB. This apoptosis induction can effectively be attenuated by a more normothermic procedure.
Fulvestrant 500 mg Versus Anastrozole 1 mg for the First-Line Treatment of Advanced Breast Cancer: Overall Survival Analysis From the Phase II FIRST Study

PURPOSE
To compare overall survival (OS) for fulvestrant 500 mg versus anastrozole as first-line endocrine therapy for advanced breast cancer.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
The Fulvestrant First-Line Study Comparing Endocrine Treatments (FIRST) was a phase II, randomized, open-label, multicenter trial. Postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive, locally advanced/metastatic breast cancer who had no previous therapy for advanced disease received either fulvestrant 500 mg (days 0, 14, 28, and every 28 days thereafter) or anastrozole 1 mg (daily). The primary end point (clinical benefit rate [72.5% and 67.0%]) and a follow-up analysis (median time to progression [23.4 months and 13.1 months]) have been reported previously for fulvestrant 500 mg and anastrozole, respectively. Subsequently, the protocol was amended to assess OS by unadjusted log-rank test after approximately 65% of patients had died. Treatment effect on OS across several subgroups was examined. Tolerability was evaluated by adverse event monitoring.


RESULTS
In total, 205 patients were randomly assigned (fulvestrant 500 mg, n = 102; anastrozole, n = 103). At data cutoff, 61.8% (fulvestrant 500 mg, n = 63) and 71.8% (anastrozole, n = 74) had died. The hazard ratio (95% CI) for OS with fulvestrant 500 mg versus anastrozole was 0.70 (0.50 to 0.98; P = .04; median OS, 54.1 months v 48.4 months). Treatment effects seemed generally consistent across the subgroups analyzed. No new safety issues were observed.


CONCLUSION
There are several limitations of this OS analysis, including that it was not planned in the original protocol but instead was added after time-to-progression results were analyzed, and that not all patients participated in additional OS follow-up. However, the present results suggest fulvestrant 500 mg extends OS versus anastrozole. This finding now awaits prospective confirmation in the larger phase III FALCON (Fulvestrant and Anastrozole Compared in Hormonal Therapy Naïve Advanced Breast Cancer) trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01602380).
The role of sub-national government and the private sector in future spatial data infrastructures

A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) facilitates and coordinates the exchange and sharing of spatial data between stakeholders in the spatial data community. With this objective in mind, countries throughout the world are developing SDIs to manage and utilise their spatial data assets more effectively. These countries are developing SDIs to assist in various kinds of decision-making at different levels of government jurisdictions that have an important impact within their national boundaries. However, current research shows that SDI is understood and described differently by stakeholders from different disciplines and different jurisdictional levels. Therefore, in many cases SDI initiatives remain very much an innovation even among practitioners. There are still uncertainties regarding the benefits and identities of SDIs, particularly in connection with how they evolve over time to meet user needs. This paper reviews and assesses the development of SDIs throughout the world over the past fifteen years and the leadership role of national governments in SDI creation. This assessment is based on the SDI activities of various jurisdictions including AsiaPacific, Australia, North America and Europe and research into the worldwide effects of spatial information clearinghouses. This assessment includes a discussion on emerging trends in SDI development, with particular reference to the increasingly important role played by sub-national governments and the private sector within the framework of SDI development. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for future SDI development, including the delivery of a virtual world that has a particular focus on facilitating decision making at a community level within a national context.
Signcryption based on elliptic curve and its multi-party schemes

A new signcryption based on elliptic curve cryptosystems that combines ECDSA and PSCE-1 is presented. The signcryption scheme is a publicly verifiable scheme which can be verified by the third party after the specific recipient removes his key information. Analysis shows that the proposed scheme is secure against the adaptive chosen ciphertext attack. The signcryption saves the communication cost at least 1.25 times and enhances computation cost 1.19 times over ECDSA-then-PSCE-1. Compared with other signcryption schemes, such as Y. Zheng's ECSCS, the new signcryption uses a uniform elliptic curve cryptosystem platform instead of four kinds of cryptosystem components: hash function, keyed hash function, symmetric cipher and elliptic curve. While keeping high security and efficiency, the scheme can be implemented in software and hardware at low price because of above advantages. Based on the presented signcryption, a broadcast scheme for multiple recipients and a threshold scheme with Key Distributed Generation for multiple senders are also proposed.
Co-administration of intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin and interferon α-2B as first line in treating superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

OBJECTIVE
• To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and interferon α-2B (IFNα-2B) in treating superficial bladder cancer (SBC). The mentioned combination has shown synergism in pre-clinical studies.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
• The present study is a single-arm, open-label, single-institution prospective trial. Patients with Ta, T1 or in situ carcinoma and no previous intravesical therapy were included between July 2002 and June 2009. • Patients were treated with weekly intravesical instillation of 27 mg of BCG mixed with 10 million units (MU) of IFNα-2B for six consecutive weeks followed by 3-weekly booster instillations at 3 months if there was no recurrence. • The primary endpoint was disease recurrence. Secondary endpoints were disease progression and toxicity. • Patients were followed-up with cystoscopy and urine cytology every 3 months.


RESULTS
• In all, 50 patients were included. • At a median follow-up of 55.8 months, 31 (62%) patients were recurrence-free. • Progression to muscle invasion occurred in two (4%) and metastasis occurred in two (4%) patients. • Treatment was well tolerated, with grade III dysuria and frequency occurring in 18 and 14% of patients, respectively, and with 74% of patients being able to complete the maintenance dosage.


CONCLUSION
• The combination of BCG and IFNα-2B in the patient population with SBC has similar efficacy and toxicity to BCG monotherapy.
Renal effects of aspirin are clearly dose-dependent and are of clinical importance from a dose of 160 mg.

BACKGROUND
High doses of aspirin counteract the beneficial effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. It is not known how low-dose aspirin, with concomitant ACE-inhibitor treatment, affects renal function.


AIM
To study renal effects of different doses of aspirin in elderly healthy volunteers who had an activated renin-angiotensin system.


METHODS
Sixteen subjects each received two different doses of aspirin (0 and160 mg or 80 and 320 mg) after pre-treatment with bendroflumethiazide and enalapril, in a randomised double-blind, cross-over fashion.


RESULTS
Least square means of the observations 30 to 180 min after dosing, showed that urine flow, GFR, excretion rates of sodium, osmolality clearance and free water clearance were significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Urine flow, sodium excretion rate and free water clearance were significantly lower with 320 mg aspirin vs. 0 mg and 80 mg, and GFR was significantly lower with 320 mg vs. 80 mg. Urine flow, sodium excretion rate, free water and osmolality clearance was significantly lower with aspirin 160 mg vs. 0 mg.


CONCLUSION
The dose-dependent renal effects of aspirin are of clinical importance from a dose of 160 mg. The adverse influence of aspirin doses higher than 80 mg should be taken into consideration in patients with heart failure.
Significant electronic thermal transport in the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene).

Suspended microdevices are employed to measure the in-plane electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient of suspended poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films. The measured thermal conductivity is higher than previously reported for PEDOT and generally increases with the electrical conductivity. The increase exceeds that predicted by the Wiedemann-Franz law for metals and can be explained by significant electronic thermal transport in PEDOT.
Question Generation Shared Task and Evaluation Challenge - Status Report

The First Shared Task Evaluation Challenge on Question Generation took place in 2010 as part of the 3 workshop on Question Generation. The campaign included two tasks: Question Generation from Sentences and Question Generation from Paragraphs. This status report briefly summarizes the motivation, tasks and results. Lessons learned relevant to future QG-STECs are also offered.
Managing stress: the influence of gender, age and emotion regulation on coping among university students in Botswana

This study focused on the influence of gender, age and emotion regulation on coping strategies among university students in Botswana. Sixty-four males and 64 females, ranging in age from 18 to 29 years completed the Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Coping Strategy Inventory. Female students used wishful thinking and problem-focused disengagement more than male students; however, there were no other significant gender differences in coping strategies. Older students were more likely to use problem-solving, cognitive restructuring and express emotion coping strategies. In addition, problems in emotion regulation significantly predicted problem-and emotion-focused engagement, problem- and emotion-focused disengagement and coping strategies. There was a unique finding that non-acceptance of emotional responses, a type of emotion suppression, was positively correlated with problem solving, cognitive restructuring, expressing emotion, social support, problem avoidance and wishful thinking coping strategies. Cultural context and implications for student well-being and university support are discussed.
Will My Risk Parity Strategy Outperform

We gauge the return-generating potential and risk inherent in four investment strategies: value weighted, fixed mix, and levered and unlevered risk parity, over an 85-year horizon. There are three essential conclusions from our study. First, even over periods lasting decades, the specific start and end dates of a backtest can have a material effect on the results; second, transaction costs can negate apparent outperformance; third, statistical significance of findings needs to be assessed.