instruction:
Given a passage classify if the passage has a definite objective/aim/goal or not. Output '1' if the passage has a defininte objective/aim/goal and output '0' if the passage does not have a definite objective/aim/goal.
question:
In the United States, patients who enroll in chemotherapy trials seldom reflect the attributes of the general population with cancer, as they are often younger, more functional, and have less comorbidity. We compared survival following three chemotherapy regimens according to the setting in which care was delivered (ie, clinical trial vs usual care) to determine the generalizability of clinical trial results to unselected elderly Medicare patients.', 'Using SEER-Medicare data, we estimated survival for elderly patients (ie, age 65 years or older, n = 14097) with advanced pancreatic or lung cancer following receipt of one of three guideline-recommended first-line chemotherapy regimens. We compared their survival to that of similarly treated clinical trial enrollees, without age restrictions, with the same diagnosis and stage (n = 937). All statistical tests were two-sided.', 'Trial patients were 9.5 years younger than elderly Medicare patients. Medicare patients were more often white and tended to live in areas of greater educational attainment than trial enrollees. For each tumor type, Medicare patients who were 75 years or older had median survivals that were six to eight weeks shorter than those of trial patients (4.3 vs 5.8 months following treatment with single agent gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer, P = .03; 7.3 vs 8.9 months following treatment with carboplatin and paclitaxel for stage IV non-small cell lung cancer, P = .91; 8.2 vs 10.2 months following treatment with CDDP/ VP16 for extensive stage small cell lung cancer, P ≤ .01), whereas younger Medicare patients had survival times that were similar to those of trial patients.
answer:
0


question:
Recent studies show that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) downregulation is implicated in preeclampsia (PE) pathophysiology. This study assessed the relationship between PE and VEGF levels produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and their serum levels.', 'A cross-sectional design was performed in 36 patients who had hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. We also used a longitudinal design with 12 pregnant women with risk factors for PE development and/or abnormal uterine arteries by Doppler study. VEGF and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) levels were measured for all patients in both designs.', "sFlt-1 serum was higher in preeclamptic patients (n = 26), whereas VEGF produced by stimulated PBMCs was lower than in healthy pregnant women and VEGF levels produced by stimulated PBMCs were even lower (p <0.003) in severe PE (n = 16). The receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis allowed establishing a cut-off value to identify patients with PE. VEGF production by PBMCs was 339.87 pg/mL. In addition, a robust linear regression model was performed to adjust the variance in VEGF levels. The patients' age decreased VEGF levels and was adjusted by weeks of gestation (WG) in our model. In the longitudinal study, 7/12 patients developed PE. VEGF produced by PBMCs cells was significantly lower in PE at 24-26 WG.
answer:
0


question:
The treatment of persistent epithelial defects (PED) with autologous serum eye drops is often combined with conventional medication such as artificial tears and topical antibiotics, but until now no report exists on the use of a bandage contact lens (BCL) in combination with autologous serum eye drops in the treatment of PEDs. We report six eyes (five patients) which were all treated with autologous serum eye drops in combination with an FDA group IV hydrogel contact lens.', 'Five patients aged 36-88 years, were suffering from six PEDs for 73.5+/-46.9 days due to rheumatoid sterile corneal ulcer (n=1), neurotrophic keratopathy (n=3) or partial limbal stem cell deficiency (n=1). All patients had been unsuccessfully treated with conventional therapy before. Three of them had already had an amniotic membrane transplantation and two had undergone a keratoplasty; however, the epithelial defect persisted or recurred. In all cases, an FDA group IV hydrogel contact lens (Biomedics 55, ocufilcon D, 55% water content) was fitted and serum eye drops applied 8 times a day.', 'The PED healed in five of six eyes after a treatment period of 14.2+/-8.9 days. In one eye the PED became smaller, but it took 90 days until the lesion healed completely. In three eyes (two patients) white deposits appeared on the surface of the BCL during the treatment after 12.3+/-5.1 days. Because no signs of inflammation were observed and since the epithelial defect improved, a new identical lens was applied and the medication continued unaltered. The surface of contaminated and non-contaminated BCLs were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and SDS gel-electrophoresis. The scanning electron microscopic examination presented a coating of amorphous material with a wrinkled appearance and many corpuscular deposits. There was no indication of bacterial colonisation. The SDS gel-electrophoresis showed a small band at 65 kDa, probably albumin.
answer:

0