TASK DEFINITION: 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.
PROBLEM: To determine the association of ethanol intoxication with hypoglycemia in ED patients.', 'Retrospective, laboratory log review of 953 consecutive patients who were evaluated for ethanol intoxication in an urban university hospital ED over a three-month period. Simultaneous serum glucose determination was carried out for each patient and associations between ethanol level and glucose were sought.', 'Glucose concentrations were unavailable for 16 patients (1.7%). Of the remaining patients, 584 patients had detectable ethanol concentrations (ethanol-positive), and 353 had no detectable ethanol (ethanol-negative). Ethanol concentrations (mean +/- SD) in the ethanol-positive group were 50.11 +/- 24.08 mmol/L (231 +/- 111 mg/dL), and glucose concentrations were 5.83 +/- 1.94 mmol/L (105 +/- 35 mg/dL). Hypoglycemia [glucose < 3.72 mmol/L (67 mg/dL)] was observed for five (0.9%) ethanol-positive patients. It was classified as mild-moderate [2.78-3.66 mmol/L (50-66 mg/dL)] for four patients (0.7%) and severe [< 2.78 mmol/L (50 mg/dL)] for one (0.2%). Ethanol concentrations ranged from 25.60 to 68.33 mmol/L (118 to 315 mg/dL). There was no correlation between ethanol and glucose concentrations in any subset of the ethanol-positive patients population. In the ethanol-positive group, patients who had several ethanol-positive visits (56 patients, mean 3.6 visits/patient) accounted for four of the five episodes of hypoglycemia, including the one episode of severe hypoglycemia. The frequency of hypoglycemia in repeat visitors (2.0%) was higher than that in the group of patients without repeat visits (0.2%). In the ethanol-negative group, there were four (1.1%) episodes of mild-moderate hypoglycemia and no severely hypoglycemic patients. Hypoglycemia was not more likely to occur among ethanol-positive patients than it was among ethanol-negative patients.

SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: Triterpene alcohols and acids are multifunctional compounds widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom that exhibit a variety of beneficial health properties, being synthetic analogs of oleanolic acid under clinical evaluation as anti-tumoral therapeutic agents. However, the antineoplastic activity of two natural occurring triterpenoid alcohols extracted from olive oil, erythrodiol (an intermediate from oleanolic acid), and its isomer, uvaol, has barely been reported, particularly on brain cancer cells. Astrocytomas are among the most common and aggressive type of primary malignant tumors in the neurological system lacking effective treatments, and in this study, we addressed the effect of these two triterpenic diols on the human 1321N1 astrocytoma cell line.', 'Erythrodiol and uvaol effectively affected cell proliferation, as well as cell cycle phases and induced 1321N1 cell death. Both triterpenes successfully modulated the apoptotic response, promoting nuclear condensation and fragmentation. They caused retraction and rounding of cultured cells, which lost adherence from their supports, while F-actin and vimentin filaments disappeared as an organized cytoplasmic network. At molecular level, changes in the expression of surface proteins associated with adhesion or death processes were also observed. Moreover, triterpene exposure resulted in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and correlated with the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK). The presence of catalase reversed the triterpenic diols-induced mitochondrial depolarization, JNK activation, and apoptotic death, indicating the critical role of ROS in the action of these compounds.

SOLUTION: 0

PROBLEM: Decreased performance status, comorbidities, and disease natural history may erode enthusiasm for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) resection in elderly patients. Consequently, we evaluated the outcome of elderly patients amenable to complete surgical resection treated at a single institution.', 'Prospectively accrued data were used to identify patients with primary STS age >or=65 years (n = 325) who underwent complete macroscopic resection at our institution (1996-2007). Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors.', 'Median age at presentation was 72 years; 179 patients (55.1%) had associated comorbidities with an ASA score of >or=3. Extremity was the most common site (57.1%; n = 186), undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma the most common histology (60.4%; n = 197); 232 (71.2%) were high grade, 222 (68.3%) were >5 cm. Thirty-day postoperative mortality was 0.9% (n = 3); overall complication rate was 30.7% (n = 100), and mean postoperative hospital stay was 9 days (range, 1-84). Estimated median survival was 96 months, 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 63%. Multivariable analysis identified age >or=75 year (HR = 2.03), tumor size: 5-15 vs <5 cm (HR = 3.54), or >15 vs <5 cm (HR = 10.33), and high-grade (HR = 5.53) as significant independent adverse prognostic factors. Compared with patients aged 65-74 years, older patients had more high grade tumors (P = .04), received chemotherapy less often (P < .0001), developed different patterns of recurrence (P < .05), and exhibited a shorter median survival (70 months; P = .05).

SOLUTION:
0