bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic Advances in the Treatment of Glioblastoma: Rationale and Potential Role of Targeted Agents
Authors: Reardon David A. , Wen Patrick Y. 
Published: February 2006

Learning ObjectivesAfter completing this course, the reader will be able to: Describe the genetic alterations frequently observed in GBM tumors as well as the cell signal transduction pathways that are aberrantly activated in these tumors.Discuss the clinical benefit recently associated with temozolomide chemotherapy for patients with GBM.Identify mediators of signal transduction pathways that are attractive targets of novel therapeutics in GBM patients.Understand the potential benefit associated with regionally administered therapies for GBM patients as a means to overcome drug delivery limitations into the central nervous system caused by the blood–brain barrier.Describe the rationale for combination regimens incorporating novel targeted agents for GBM patients.CME Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA category 1 credit at CME.TheOncologist.com
Changing Paradigms—An Update on the Multidisciplinary Management of Malignant Glioma
Authors: Stupp Roger , Hegi Monika E. , van den Bent Martin J. , Mason Warren P. , Weller Michael , Mirimanoff René O. , Cairncross J. Gregory ,   on behalf of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Brain Tumor and Radiotherapy Groups and the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group
Published: February 2006

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, the reader will be able to: List the different major subtypes of glioma and identify the appropriate treatment strategies for patients with high-grade and low-grade gliomas.Discuss the available evidence for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma, anaplastic astrocytoma, and anaplastic oligodendroglioma.Identify approved agents and other active or investigational agents used to treat patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent glioma.
CME Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA category 1 credit at CME.TheOncologist.com
Beta Radiation
Authors: Welsh James S. 
Published: February 2006

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Describe the basic science behind radioactive beta decay.Discuss the common clinically useful beta-emitting radioisotopes.Explain why some beta emitters are better suited than others for certain specific clinical indications.
CME Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA category 1 credit at CME.TheOncologist.com
Cancer-Related Fatigue: Predictors and Effects of Rehabilitation
Authors: van Weert Ellen , Hoekstra-Weebers Josette , Otter Renée , Postema Klaas , Sanderman Robbert , van der Schans Cees 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
Background. The aims of the study were to examine the effects of a multidimensional rehabilitation program on cancer-related fatigue, to examine concurrent predictors of fatigue, and to investigate whether change in fatigue over time was associated with change in predictors.
Methods. Sample: 72 cancer survivors with different diagnoses. Setting: rehabilitation center. Intervention: 15-week rehabilitation program. Measures: Fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), demographic and disease/treatment-related variables, body composition (bioelectrical impedance), exercise capacity (symptom-limited bicycle ergometry), muscle force (handheld dynamometry), physical and psychological symptom distress (Rotterdam Symptom Check List), experienced physical and psychological functioning (RAND-36), and self-efficacy (General-Self-Efficacy Scale, Dutch version). Measurements were performed before (T0) and after rehabilitation (T1).
Results. At T1 (n = 56), significant improvements in fatigue were found, with effect sizes varying from −0.35 to −0.78. At T0, the different dimensions of fatigue were predicted by different physical and psychological variables. Explained variance of change in fatigue varied from 42%–58% and was associated with pre-existing fatigue and with change in physical functioning, role functioning due to physical problems, psychological functioning, and physical symptoms distress.
Conclusions. Within this selected group of patients we found that (a) rehabilitation is effective in reducing fatigue, (b) both physical and psychological parameters predicted different dimensions of fatigue at baseline, and (c) change in fatigue was mainly associated with change in physical parameters.
Early Intervention with Epoetin Alfa During Platinum-Based Chemotherapy: An Analysis of the Results of a Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial Based on Initial Hemoglobin Level
Authors: Savonije Jorine H. , van Groeningen Cees J. , Wormhoudt Lars W. , Giaccone Guiseppe 
Published: February 2006

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Describe the implications of untreated anemia and the benefits of anemia prevention/early correction in patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy.Discuss the effect of initial Hb level on the results of a prospective, randomized study in which cancer patients with baseline Hb levels ≤12.1 g/dl received epoetin alfa or best supportive care.Explain that the positive effects of early intervention with epoetin alfa on the transfusion rate, hematopoietic response, and quality of life in patients with chemotherapy-related anemia occur regardless of baseline Hb level, and that treating patients to a Hb value of 12.0 g/dl is clinically appropriate to optimize quality-of-life outcomes.
CME Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA category 1 credit at CME.TheOncologist.com
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising in Oncology
Authors: Abel Gregory A. , Penson Richard T. , Joffe Steven , Schapira Lidia , Chabner Bruce A. , Lynch Thomas J. 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
Shortly before his death in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a cancer patient at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), founded The Kenneth B. Schwartz Center at MGH. The Schwartz Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing compassionate health care delivery, which provides hope to patients and support to caregivers while encouraging the healing process. The center sponsors the Schwartz Center Rounds, a monthly multidisciplinary forum in which caregivers reflect on important psychosocial issues faced by patients, their families, and their caregivers, and gain insight and support from fellow staff members. Increasingly, cancer patients are subjected to advertisements related to oncologic therapies and other cancer-related products in the popular media. Such direct-to-consumer advertising is controversial: while it may inform, educate, and perhaps even empower patients, it also has the ability to misinform patients, and strain their relationships with oncology providers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that direct-to-consumer advertising provide a balanced presentation of a product's benefits, risks, and side effects, but this can be difficult to achieve. Through a discussion of this topic by an oncology fellow, ethicist, cancer survivor, and senior oncologist, the role of direct-to-consumer advertising and its often subtle effects on clinical practice in oncology are explored. Although sparse, the medical literature on this increasingly prevalent type of medical communication is also reviewed.
Do Oncologists Believe New Cancer Drugs Offer Good Value?
Authors: Nadler Eric , Eckert Ben , Neumann Peter J. 
Published: February 2006

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Describe how academic oncologists view the costs of new treatments in their treatment recommendations.Discuss academic oncologists’ perceptions of the cost and benefit of one new treatment in light of published results.Describe how academic oncologists view the cost-effectiveness of new treatments relative to previously accepted standards.
CME Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA category 1 credit at CME.TheOncologist.com
Risk Allocation in Capital Markets: Portfolio Insurance, Tactical Asset Allocation and Collar Strategies
Authors: Chevallier Eric , Müller Heinz H. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe theory of risk exchange is applied on the allocation of financial risk in capital markets. It is shown how the shape of individual payoff functions depends on risk tolerance and cautiousness. For the special case where the Neumann-Morgenstern utility functions of all individual investors belong to the HARA class and have non decreasing risk tolerance it is proved that generalized versions of “portfolio insurance”, “tactical asset allocation” and “collars” are the only strategies occurring in price equilibrium.
A Recursive Procedure for Calculation of some Compound Distributions
Authors: Hesselager Ole 
Published: February 2006

AbstractWe consider compound distributions where the counting distribution has the property that the ratio between successive probabilities may be written as the ratio of two polynomials. We derive a recursive algorithm for the compound distribution, which is more efficient than the one suggested by Panjer & Willmot (1982) and Willmot & Panjer (1987). We also derive a recursive algorithm for the moments of the compound distribution. Finally, we present an application of the recursion to the problem of calculating the probability of ruin in a particular mixed Poisson process.
Limiting Distribution of the Present Value of a Portfolio
Authors: Parker Gary 
Published: February 2006

AbstractAn approximation of the distribution of the present value of the benefits of a portfolio of temporary insurance contracts is suggested for the case where the size of the portfolio tends to infinity. The model used is the one presented in Parker (1922b) and involves random interest rates and future lifetimes. Some justifications of the approximation are given. Illustrations for limiting portfolios of temporary insurance contracts are presented for an assumed Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process for the force of interest.
On the Exact Calculation of the Aggregate Claims Distribution in the Individual Life Model
Authors: Waldmann Karl-Heinz 
Published: February 2006

AbstractAn iteration scheme is derived for calculating the aggregate claims distribution in the individual life model. The (exact) procedure is an efficient reformulation of De Pril's (1986) algorithm, considerably reducing both the number of arithmetic operations to be carried out and the number of data to be kept at each step of iteration. Scaling functions are used to stabilize the algorithm in case of a portfolio with a large number of policies. Some numerical results are displayed to demonstrate the efficiency of the method.
Modelling Mortgage Insurance Claims Experience: A Case Study
Authors: Taylor Greg 
Published: February 2006

AbstractMortgage insurance indemnifies a mortage lender against loss on default by the borrower. The sequence of events leading to a claim under this type of insurance is relatively complex, depending not only on the credit worthiness of the borrower but also on a number of external economic factors.Prominent among these external factors are the loan to valuation ratio of the insured loan, the disposable income of the borrower, and movements in property values. A broad theoretical model of the functional dependencies of claim frequency and average claim size on these variables is established in Sections 6 and 7. Section 8 fits these models, extended by other “internal” variables such as the geographic location of the mortgaged property, to a real data set.Section 9 compares the fitted model with the data, and finds an acceptable fit despite extreme fluctuations in the claims experience recorded in the data set.
Two Stochastic Approaches for Discounting Actuarial Functions
Authors: Parker Gary 
Published: February 2006

AbstractTwo approaches used to model interest randomness are presented. They are the modeling of the force of interest accumulation function and the modeling of the force of interest. The expected value, standard deviation and coefficient of skewness of the present value of annuities-immediate are presented as illustrations. The implicit behavior of the force of interest under the two approaches is investigated by looking at a particular conditional expectation of the force of interest accumulation function.
A Markov Model for Loss Reserving
Authors: Hesselager Ole 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe claims generating process for a non-life insurance portfolio is modelled as a marked Poisson process, where the mark associated with an incurred claim describes the development of that claim until final settlement. An unsettled claim is at any point in time assigned to a state in some state-space, and the transitions between different states are assumed to be governed by a Markovian law. All claims payments are assumed to occur at the time of transition between states. We develop separate expressions for the IBNR and RBNS reserves, and the corresponding prediction errors.
Martingale Approach to Pricing Perpetual American Options
Authors: Gerber Hans U. , Shiu Elias S.W. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe method of Esscher transforms is a tool for valuing options on a stock, if the logarithm of the stock price is governed by a stochastic process with stationary and independent increments. The price of a derivative security is calculated as the expectation, with respect to the risk-neutral Esscher measure, of the discounted payoffs. Applying the optional sampling theorem we derive a simple, yet general formula for the price of a perpetual American put option on a stock whose downward movements are skip-free. Similarly, we obtain a formula for the price of a perpetual American call option on a stock whose upward movements are skip-free. Under the classical assumption that the stock price is a geometric Brownian motion, the general perpetual American contingent claim is analysed, and formulas for the perpetual down-and-out call option and Russian option are obtained. The martingale approach avoids the use of differential equations and provides additional insight. We also explain the relationship between Samuelson's high contact condition and the first order condition for optimality.
Recursive Methods for Computing Finite-Time Ruin Probabilities for Phase-Distributed Claim Sizes
Authors: Stanford D.A. , Stroiński K.J. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractFinite time ruin methods typically rely on diffusion approximations or discretization. We propose a new method by looking at the surplus process embedded at claim instants and develop a recursive scheme for calculating ruin probabilities. It is assumed that claim sizes follow a phase-type distribution. The proposed method is exact. The application of the method reveals where in the future the relative vulnerability to the company lies.
On the Compound Generalized Poisson Distributions
Authors: Ambagaspitiya R.S. , Balakrishnan N. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractGoovaerts and Kaas (1991) present a recursive scheme, involving Panjer's recursion, to compute the compound generalized Poisson distribution (CGPD). In the present paper, we study the CGPD in detail. First, we express the generating functions in terms of Lambert's W function. An integral equation is derived for the pdf of CGPD, when the claim severities are absolutely continuous, from the basic principles. Also we derive the asymptotic formula for CGPD when the distribution of claim severity satisfies certain conditions. Then we present a recursive formula somewhat different and easier to implement than the recursive scheme of Goovaerts and Kaas (1991), when the distribution of claim severity follows an arithmetic distribution, which can be used to evaluate the CGPD. We illustrate the usage of this formula with a numerical example.
A Comparative Analysis of 30 Bonus-Malus Systems
Authors: Lemaire Jean , Zi Hongmin 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe automobile third party insurance merit-rating systems of 22 countries are simulated and compared, using as main tools the stationary average premium level, the variability of the policyholders' payments, their elasticity with respect to the claim frequency, and the magnitude of the hunger for bonus. Principal components analysis is used to define an “Index of Toughness” for all systems.
Additivity of Chain-Ladder Projections
Authors: Ajne Björn 
Published: February 2006

AbstractIn this paper some results are given on the addivity of chain-ladder projections. Given two claims development triangles, when do their chain-ladder projections add up to the projections of the combined triangle, that is the triangle being the element-wise sum of the two given triangles?Necessary and sufficient conditions for equality are given. These are of a fairly simply form and are directly connected to the ordinary chain-ladder calculations. In addition, sufficient conditions of the same form are given for inequality between the combined projection vector and the sum of the two original projections vectors.
Deductibles and the Inverse Gaussian Distribution
Authors: ter Berg Peter 
Published: February 2006

The calculation of mean claim sizes, in the presence of a deductible, is usually achieved through numerical integration. In case of a Lognormal or Gamma distribution, the quantities of interest can easily be expressed as functions of the cumulative distribution function, with modified parameters. This also applies to the F-distribution, where the incomplete Beta function enters the scene; see for instance the appendix in Hogg and Klugman (1984).The purpose of this paper is to derive an explicit formula for the first two moments of the Inverse Gaussian distribution, in the presence of censoring. For reasons of completeness we also consider truncation of the Inverse Gaussian distribution by an upper limit.The tractability of the derivation depends in a crucial way on two properties of the Inverse Gaussian distribution. Firstly, the cumulative distribution function of the Inverse Gaussian can be written as a simple function using the Normal probability integral. Secondly, the moment generating function of a censorized Inverse Gaussian distribution boils down to an expression containing the cumulative Inverse Gaussian distribution. This manifests itself most clearly in case of life insurance where the quantity of interest is the expectation of a present value. In case of non-life insurance, where the dimension of the Inverse Gaussian random variable is money instead of time, a further step is required: differentiation of the moment generating function.So, a natural order of this paper is to address ourselves first to the derivation for the life case and afterwards tackling the more laborious derivation for the non-life case.
A Method for Modelling Varying Run-Off Evolutions in Claims Reserving
Authors: Verrall R.J. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThis paper considers the application of state space modelling to the chain ladder linear model in order to allow the run-off parameters to vary with accident year. In the usual application of the chain ladder technique, the development factors are assumed to be the same for each accident year. This implies that the run-off shape does not alter with accident year. This paper shows how this assumption can be relaxed in order to allow a recursive smooth model to be applied, or for large changes in the shape of the run-off curve. It is possible for these changes to be modelled using external inputs, or for a multiprocess model to be used to detect changes in the run-off shape.
Communicating risks of foodborne diseases
Authors: Wildemann Tanja 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
Foodborne diseases contribute substantially to the overall burden of disease, including hospitalizations, economic loss, and death. Nonetheless, in contrast to food safety experts, the public usually perceives foodborne diseases as low risk, which highlights the differences in the perception of the risk. Many studies have shown that risk perception is a complex concept determined by a variety factors. Among the factors associated with increased concern are high media attention and an impact on children.
Risk communication is a new concept aimed at the providing meaningful, relevant, and accurate information. The purpose is to increase knowledge and enable the recipients to make informed choices. The process of risk communication is complicated by the many contributors, including experts, lay people, risk managers, media, and other stakeholders. It is a two-way process that requires respecting and listening to the contributors. The risk message and its originator are crucial components that account for the success of risk communication.
Communication campaigns aim at raising awareness of hygienic food preparation at home, changing risk behavior, and reducing the number of foodborne infections. By considering the determinants of risk perception and the rules for communicating effectively, risk communication can help preventing foodborne infections and improve public health.
Plutonium and Plutonium Compounds
Authors: Clark David L. , Hecker Sigfried S. , Jarvinen Gordon D. , Neu Mary P. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe discovery of plutonium, its economic and military importance, sources, production, and nuclear properties are reviewed. The economic aspects of weapons‐ and reactor‐grade plutonium are outlined. The preparation and properties of plutonium metal and its alloys are discussed in detail. A presentation of the physical and chemical properties of atomic plutonium and stable plutonium ions is given. The complexation and hydrolysis properties of these ions are recapitulated. Analytical chemistry, separations technology, and metallurgy (including pyrometallurgical processing) are described. There is a brief treatment of storage and disposal of excess weapons plutonium. The chemistry of several classes of plutonium compounds is described: oxides, halides, oxyhalides, hydrides, carbides, silicides, nitrides, sulfides, and oxalates. The article concludes with a treatment of environmental, health, and safety aspects of plutonium.
Thallium and Thallium Compounds
Authors: Blumenthal Bob , Sellers Kelly , Koval Matthew 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThallium is a soft and malleable heavy metal with a bluish‐white luster when freshly cut with a knife that is quickly dulled to a blue‐gray color by the formation of an oxide film. The abundance of thallium in the earth’s crust is estimated at 0.7 mg/kg (ppm) and is contained in > 40 naturally occurring minerals. Thallium and all compounds of thallium are highly toxic. Great care should be exercised when handling the element or any of its compounds. After thallium bearing pesticides were banned domestically, the demand for thallium was greatly reduced. New uses for thallium and its compounds have emerged including alloy use in bearings and contact points, amalgam use in switches and seals for use in the polar region, stratosphere or space program, cardiovascular imaging, infrared optics and radiation detectors, photoelectric cells, analytical reagents, catalysts for organic syntheses, thin films and coating technologies in the automotive and aerospace industries, and high‐temperature superconductive wires, tapes and films.