2,177 research outputs found
Findings at follow-up endoscopies in subjects with suspected colorectal abnormalities: Effects of baseline findings and time to follow-up
No full textLong-term outcomes with intensive induction chemotherapy (carboplatin, bleomycin, vincristine and cisplatin/bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin) and standard bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin in poor prognosis germ cell tumours: A randomised phase II trial (ISRCTN53643604).
No full textBACKGROUND: Up to 50% of men with poor prognosis, non-seminoma germ cell tumours (GCTs) die with standard BEP (bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin) chemotherapy. An intensive regimen, CBOP/BEP (carboplatin, bleomycin, vincristine and cisplatin/BEP), met response targets in a randomised, phase II trial (74% complete response or partial response marker negative, 90% confidence interval (CI) 61%-85%). AIM: To assess long-term outcomes and late toxicity associated with CBOP/BEP. METHODS: Patients with poor prognosis extracranial GCT were randomised to 4xBEP or CBOP/BEP (2xCBOP, 2xBO, 3xBEP with 15,000iu of bleomycin). Low-dose, stabilising chemotherapy before entry was permitted. Response rates (primary outcome) were reported previously. Here, we report secondary outcomes: progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and late toxicity. Prognostic factors and the impact of marker decline are assessed in exploratory analysis. RESULTS: Eighty-nine patients (43 CBOP/BEP) were randomised. After median 63 months follow-up, 3-year PFS is 55.7% (95% CI: 39.7%, 69.0%) for CBOP/BEP and 38.7% (95% CI: 24.7%, 52.4%) for BEP (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.59 (0.33, 1.06), p = 0.079). Three-year OS is 65.0% (48.8%, 77.2%) and 58.5% (43.0%, 71.2%), respectively (HR: 0.79 (0.41, 1.52), p = 0.49). Twelve-month toxicity was affected by subsequent treatments, with no clear differences between arms. Stabilising chemotherapy was associated with poorer PFS (HR: 2.09 (1.14, 3.81), p = 0.017), whereas unfavourable marker decline, in 60 (70%) patients, was not. CONCLUSION: Although not powered for PFS, results for CBOP/BEP are promising. Impact on OS was less clear (and will be affected by subsequent therapy). Further study in an international phase III trial is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 53643604
FH through the retrospectoscope
Full text linkAfter training as a gastroenterologist in the UK, the author became interested in lipidology while he was a research fellow in the USA and switched careers after returning home. Together with Nick Myant, he introduced the use of plasma exchange to treat familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) homozygotes and undertook non-steady state studies of LDL kinetics, which showed that the fractional catabolic rate of LDL remained constant irrespective of pool size. Subsequent steady-state turnover studies showed that FH homozygotes had an almost complete lack of receptor-mediated LDL catabolism, providing in vivo confirmation of the Nobel Prize-winning discovery by Goldstein and Brown that LDL receptor dysfunction was the cause of FH. Further investigation of metabolic defects in FH revealed that a significant proportion of LDL in homozygotes and heterozygotes was produced directly via a VLDL-independent pathway. Management of heterozygous FH has been greatly facilitated by statins and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors but remains dependent upon lipoprotein apheresis in homozygotes. In a recent analysis of a large cohort treated with a combination of lipid-lowering measures, survival was markedly enhanced in homozygotes in the lowest quartile of on-treatment serum cholesterol. Emerging therapies could further improve the prognosis of homozygous FH; whereas in heterozygotes, the current need is better detection
Website accessibility : evaluating the WCAG conformance level of WordPress templates and the FH Joanneum GmbH's website
No full textDurch Content Management Systeme wie WordPress ist es auch Menschen ohne Ausbildung in Design oder Webentwicklung möglich, Webseiten schnell und günstig zu erstellen. Dies wird den BenutzerInnen dieser Systeme durch sogenannte Templates oder Vorlagen ermöglicht. Damit geht jedoch auch ein großes Problem bezüglich der Barrierefreiheit einher, da diese Templates nicht den gegebenen Standards unterliegen müssen. Zu Beginn dieser Arbeit wurden notwendige Begriffe wie Barrierefreiheit definiert. Ebenfalls wurden Behinderungen, welche die Benutzung von Webseiten negativ beeinflussen können, aufgezeigt und in vier Kategorien unterteilt. Daraufhin wurden drei Standards vorgestellt, mit deren Hilfe barrierefreie Webseiten, oder Templates, erstellt werden können. Diese Standards wurden von der Autorin aus dem Englischen ins Deutsche übersetzt und zusammengefasst. Anschließend wurden die vier meist genutzten, kostenlose WordPress Templates aus der Kategorie ‘Food & Drink’, sowie das einzige Template dieser Kategorie, welches als ‘Accessibility Ready’ gekennzeichnet wurde, auf ihre Barrierefreiheit untersucht. Diese Evaluierungen wurden manuell anhand der Demo-Versionen der Templates durchgeführt. Zusätzlich wird die Webseite der FH JOANNEUM GmbH, welche ebenfalls mit WordPress erstellt wurde, manuell untersucht. Ziel der Evaluierung war es herauszufinden welche Konformitätsstufe, nach den Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, diese Templates und die Webseite erreichen können. Die Evaluierung ergab, dass weder die untersuchten Templates, noch die Webseite der FH JOANNEUM GmbH auch nur die niedrigste Konformitätsstufe erreichen konnten. Die gesamten Ergebnisse der Evaluierung der FH JOANNEUM GmbH und des Templates, welches als ‘Accessibility Ready’ gekennzeichnet ist, wurden in einer Tabelle festgehalten. In diesen Tabellen wurden sowohl gute Umsetzungen, als auch Fehler besonders hervorgehoben. Für einfach zu behebende Fehler wurden ebenfalls Lösungsvorschläge angegeben. Zuletzt wurden die Ergebnisse auch in textueller Form und in einer vereinfachten Tabelle in dieser Arbeit festgehalten.Content management systems like WordPress enables people without training in design or web development to create websites quickly and cheaply. This is made possible for the users of these systems due to the use of so-called templates. However, this is also accompanied by a major concern regarding accessibility, as these templates do not have to be subject to any given standards. At the beginning of this thesis, necessary terms such as accessibility were defined. Likewise disabilities, which can affect the use of web pages negatively, were pointed out and divided into four categories. Then, three standards were presented that can be used to create accessible websites, or templates. These standards were translated from English into German by the author of this thesis and summarized. Subsequently, the four most used free WordPress templates from the category 'Food & Drink', as well as the only template of this category, which was tagged as 'Accessibility Ready', were evaluated for their accessibility. These evaluations were performed manually using the demo versions of the templates. Additionally, the website of FH Joanneum Ltd., which was also created with WordPress, was manually examined. The goal of the evaluation was to find out what level of compliance, according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, these templates and the website can achieve. The evaluation showed that neither the examined templates nor the website of the FH Joanneum Ltd. could reach even the lowest level of conformance. The entire results of the evaluation of the website of FH Joanneum Ltd. and the template, which is tagged as 'Accessibility Ready', were noted in a table. In these tables, both good implementations and errors were highlighted. Suggested solutions were also given for errors that are easy to fix. Finally, the results were also recorded in textual form and in a simplified table in this thesis.eingereicht von: Darlene AntonioAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersBachelorarbeit FH JOANNEUM 202
Het ontwerp van een synchronisatiemethode voor een muitiplex-systeem volgens het FH-MFSK principe ten behoeve van dataoverdracht van een basisstation naar een aantal mobiele stations
No full textFrequency Hopping-Multiple Frequency Shift Keying (FH-MFSK) is een principe waarmee gegevens kunnen worden overgedragen in een mobiel communicatiesysteem voor meerdere gebruikers. Met behulp van Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)-techniek is het mogelijk het effect van interferentie tussen de gebruikers onderling te beperken, In de mobiele communicatie heeft men te maken met diverse omgevingsinvloeden, zoals meerwegfading en interferentie. Het FH-MFSK principe biedt mogelijkheden de kwaliteit en net frequentierendement van de overdracht op een acceptabel niveau te brengen. Onderzocht is noe in een FH-MFSK systeem synchronisatie tot stand gebracht kan worden.Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer ScienceTelecommunicatie- en Verkeersbegeleidingssysteme
Website accessibility : evaluating the WCAG conformance level of WordPress templates and the FH Joanneum GmbH's website
No full textDurch Content Management Systeme wie WordPress ist es auch Menschen ohne Ausbildung in Design oder Webentwicklung möglich, Webseiten schnell und günstig zu erstellen. Dies wird den BenutzerInnen dieser Systeme durch sogenannte Templates oder Vorlagen ermöglicht. Damit geht jedoch auch ein großes Problem bezüglich der Barrierefreiheit einher, da diese Templates nicht den gegebenen Standards unterliegen müssen. Zu Beginn dieser Arbeit wurden notwendige Begriffe wie Barrierefreiheit definiert. Ebenfalls wurden Behinderungen, welche die Benutzung von Webseiten negativ beeinflussen können, aufgezeigt und in vier Kategorien unterteilt. Daraufhin wurden drei Standards vorgestellt, mit deren Hilfe barrierefreie Webseiten, oder Templates, erstellt werden können. Diese Standards wurden von der Autorin aus dem Englischen ins Deutsche übersetzt und zusammengefasst. Anschließend wurden die vier meist genutzten, kostenlose WordPress Templates aus der Kategorie ‘Food & Drink’, sowie das einzige Template dieser Kategorie, welches als ‘Accessibility Ready’ gekennzeichnet wurde, auf ihre Barrierefreiheit untersucht. Diese Evaluierungen wurden manuell anhand der Demo-Versionen der Templates durchgeführt. Zusätzlich wird die Webseite der FH JOANNEUM GmbH, welche ebenfalls mit WordPress erstellt wurde, manuell untersucht. Ziel der Evaluierung war es herauszufinden welche Konformitätsstufe, nach den Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, diese Templates und die Webseite erreichen können. Die Evaluierung ergab, dass weder die untersuchten Templates, noch die Webseite der FH JOANNEUM GmbH auch nur die niedrigste Konformitätsstufe erreichen konnten. Die gesamten Ergebnisse der Evaluierung der FH JOANNEUM GmbH und des Templates, welches als ‘Accessibility Ready’ gekennzeichnet ist, wurden in einer Tabelle festgehalten. In diesen Tabellen wurden sowohl gute Umsetzungen, als auch Fehler besonders hervorgehoben. Für einfach zu behebende Fehler wurden ebenfalls Lösungsvorschläge angegeben. Zuletzt wurden die Ergebnisse auch in textueller Form und in einer vereinfachten Tabelle in dieser Arbeit festgehalten.Content management systems like WordPress enables people without training in design or web development to create websites quickly and cheaply. This is made possible for the users of these systems due to the use of so-called templates. However, this is also accompanied by a major concern regarding accessibility, as these templates do not have to be subject to any given standards. At the beginning of this thesis, necessary terms such as accessibility were defined. Likewise disabilities, which can affect the use of web pages negatively, were pointed out and divided into four categories. Then, three standards were presented that can be used to create accessible websites, or templates. These standards were translated from English into German by the author of this thesis and summarized. Subsequently, the four most used free WordPress templates from the category 'Food & Drink', as well as the only template of this category, which was tagged as 'Accessibility Ready', were evaluated for their accessibility. These evaluations were performed manually using the demo versions of the templates. Additionally, the website of FH Joanneum Ltd., which was also created with WordPress, was manually examined. The goal of the evaluation was to find out what level of compliance, according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, these templates and the website can achieve. The evaluation showed that neither the examined templates nor the website of the FH Joanneum Ltd. could reach even the lowest level of conformance. The entire results of the evaluation of the website of FH Joanneum Ltd. and the template, which is tagged as 'Accessibility Ready', were noted in a table. In these tables, both good implementations and errors were highlighted. Suggested solutions were also given for errors that are easy to fix. Finally, the results were also recorded in textual form and in a simplified table in this thesis.eingereicht von: Darlene AntonioAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersBachelorarbeit FH JOANNEUM 202
Two Novel Colorimetric Probes (5-HMBA-FH and 3-HMBA-FH) Based on Fluorescein for Copper(II) ion Detection
Full text linkTwo novel isomeric colorimetric probes are established for simultaneous determination of copper ions using 2-Hydroxy-5-methoxybenzaldehyde fluorescein hydrazone (5-HMBA-FH) and 2-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde fluorescein hydrazone (3-HMBA-FH). They are synthesized by reacting fluorescein hydrazide with 2-Hydroxy-5-methoxybenzaldehyde and 2-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, respectively, and then characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and Infrared spectrum. In addition of copper ions to the solutions of two novel colorimetric probes can generate the obviously peaks at 498 nm in UV-vis absorption spectra along with a rapid color change from colorless to dark yellow. The detection limits of the method for Cu2+ ion were 3.442 Ă 10-6 mol/L and 3.682 Ă 10-6 mol/L separately, for 5-HMBA-FH and 3-HMBA-FH. The additions of other metal ions hardly affect the copper ions determination. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of Cu2+ ions in various samples. This method possessing high sensitivity, simplicity and minimized interfere will provide a great advantage in detecting copper ions in the environmental, food, medical applications.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author
A critical assessment of the Flory-Huggins (FH) theory to predict aqueous two-phase behaviour
No full textThis article provides an analysis on published models used to calculate phase separation in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) based on Flory-Huggins (FH) theory, in terms of problem formulation and mathematical solving algorithm. An integrated algorithm is presented, showing different mathematical approaches of using the FH theory. The algorithm involves the estimation of interchange energy, and the calculation of phase compositions. Based on experimental data, the thermodynamic model can provide a useful framework to perform a sensitivity analysis on parameters, in order to understand the influence of salt type, polymer molecular mass, and ionic strength on phase separation. However, this model, restricted to entropic and enthalpic terms, cannot quantitatively describe the data. This occurs mainly because of the strong influence of random experimental errors on the estimation of interchange energy and FH not being an exact description of phase separation in salt based ATPS. After providing a literature overview and mathematical analysis, we bring to the field the application of the FH theory for selecting ATPS and its limitations.BT/Bioprocess EngineeringBT/Design and Engineering Educatio
Partial-breast radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery for women with early breast cancer (UK IMPORT LOW): 10-year outcomes from a multicentre, open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial.
No full textBACKGROUND: The IMPORT LOW trial evaluated partial-breast radiotherapy with intensity-modulated radiotherapy in women with early-stage breast cancer at below average risk of ipsilateral breast tumour recurrence (IBTR). 5-year results concluded non-inferiority of IBTR for reduced-dose and partial-breast radiotherapy, with similar or lower frequency of adverse effects compared with whole-breast radiotherapy. We report outcomes after 10 years. METHODS: IMPORT LOW was a randomised, open-label, multicentre, non-inferiority, phase 3 trial. Women were eligible if they were aged 50 years or older and had had breast conservation surgery for unifocal invasive ductal adenocarcinoma, pT1-2 (tumour size of ≤3 cm), N0-1 (none to three positive axillary nodes), grades 1-3, with microscopic margins of non-cancerous tissue of 2 mm or more. Patients were ineligible if they had a previous malignancy of any kind (except non-melanomatous skin cancer), had undergone mastectomy, or had received neoadjuvant or concurrent adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) by randomly permuted blocks to radiotherapy regimens of 40 Gy in 15 fractions to the whole breast (whole-breast group), 36 Gy in 15 fractions to the whole breast plus 40 Gy in 15 fractions to the partial breast (reduced-dose group), or 40 Gy in 15 fractions to the partial breast (partial-breast group). Participants were stratified by treatment centre, without masking. The primary endpoint was IBTR. 10-year outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Clinician-reported late adverse effects were evaluated in all participants with available data analysed according to allocated treatment. The study is registered in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN12852634) and is now complete. FINDINGS: 2018 patients were recruited between May 3, 2007, and Oct 5, 2010, from 30 radiotherapy centres in the UK and randomly assigned to the whole-breast group (n=675), reduced-dose group (n=674), or partial-breast group (n=669). Two participants subsequently withdrew consent. Median age was 63 years (IQR 58-68). 854 (42%) of 2016 patients had grade 1 tumours, 959 (48%) had grade 2 tumours, and 200 (10%) had grade 3 tumours (three tumours were ungradable); 59 (3%) had node-positive disease. Median follow-up was 120 months (IQR 119-122) for the whole-breast group, 121 months (IQR 120-122) for the reduced-dose group, and 120 months (IQR 119-122) for the partial-breast group. By 10 years, IBTR events were reported for 45 of 2016 participants: 17 of 674 in the whole-breast group, 11 of 673 in the reduced-dose group, and 17 of 669 in the partial-breast group, with cumulative incidence of 2·8% (95% CI 1·8-4·5), 1·9% (1·1-3·5), and 3·0% (1·9-4·8), respectively. The estimated absolute difference in 10-year IBTR incidence was -1·02% (95% CI -1·98 to 0·99) for the reduced-dose group and 0·16% (-1·28 to 2·89) for the partial-breast group compared with the whole-breast group. Similar low levels of moderate or marked adverse effects were recorded for participants in all three groups in 10-year clinical assessments. Breast shrinkage had the highest incidence (30 [9%] of 321 in the whole-breast group, 28 [9%] of 322 in the reduced-dose group, and 22 [7%] of 333 in the partial-breast group). INTERPRETATION: Long-term follow-up provides further evidence that partial-breast and reduced-dose radiotherapy are as safe and effective as whole-breast radiotherapy in patients with low-risk early breast cancer. These results reaffirm the use of partial-breast radiotherapy delivered with intensity-modulated radiotherapy in this population as standard of care. FUNDING: Cancer Research UK
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