169,748 research outputs found
Impact of steroid receptors, pS2 and cathepsin D on the outcome of N+ postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen
No full textIn spite of the complexity of the biological basis of the hormonal regulation of breast cancer, clinical studies tend to simplify the information by mainly categorizing continuous variables related to hormonal status and not considering the interactions between variables. The present study was planned to examine the presence of an interaction between cathepsin D (Cath-D) and pS2 in patients treated with adjuvant tamoxifen in a homogeneous subset of node-positive postmenopausal patients and to evaluate the contribution of the interaction to the predictive ability of the model. Steroid receptors (ER and PgR) were measured in cytosol using the dextran-coated charcoal method, while Cath-D and pS2 were determined using commercially available immunoradiometric assays. The prognostic role of each variable and their joint effect were investigated using a Cox regression model. Biological variables were analyzed as continuous and when their prognostic relationship did not seem linear, a restricted cubic spline regression smoothing approach was adopted. The logarithm of hazard showed a linear relationship with the log(ER), while it i) remained almost constant up to about 20 fmol/mg and subsequently decreased for PgR; ii) was almost constant up to about 50 pmol/mg and subsequently decreased for Cath-D; iii) decreased for increasing log(value) up to about 33 ng/mg and subsequently increased for pS2. In the multivariate analysis both PgR and the interaction between pS2 and Cath-D retained a significant prognostic role. For low values of pS2, the prognosis worsened with the increase in Cath-D levels and this relationship reversed for high values of pS2. From the results of the present study we can conclude that i) a significant interaction between Cath-D and pS2 was found in this case series; ii) the prognostic relationship should not be underestimated in clinical decision making; iii) a predictive score obtained considering the contribution of PgR, pS2 and Cath-D could be useful for clinical use
Exploring the efficacy of a novel high-pressure carbon dioxide method for food microbial inactivation on a synthetic matrix
No full textThis study investigated the microbial inactivation performance of a novel CO2-based method for food applications on a wide range of process conditions using LB agar cubes. Four different microbial strains, Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, were homogenously inoculated on the surface of an agar cube and treated with the novel method. The initial microbial loads were 7.46 ± 0.27, 7.38 ± 0.24, 7.47 ± 0.24, and 5.13 ± 0.18 Log CFU/g, respectively. Results showed a similar trend to that of traditional High-Pressure Carbon Dioxide (HPCD) processes in terms of inactivation degree as a function of time and temperature. Notably, greater microbial inactivation occurred at subcritical or near-critical pressure values. Specifically, for P. fluorescens and S. cerevisiae the inactivation rates increased from −0.039 and − 0.094 Log CFU/g/min at 12 MPa to 0.029 and 0.046 Log CFU/g/min at 6 MPa, respectively. At 45 °C and 6 MPa, P. fluorescens and S. cerevisiae were inactivated to undetectable levels after 40 min, while a 60-min treatment was needed for E. coli. L. innocua was more resistant, achieveing after 60 min at 45 °C only 1.32 Log CFU/g inactivation, and requiring a higher temperature to achieve a significant inactivation. Moreover, the gas-to-product volume ratio was proven to affect the inactivation efficiency, a low ratio could represent a limit for achieving high inactivation levels. Future studies will explore the impact of the product's nature, volume and shape, and the use of antimicrobial substances to enhance process performance and apply it to food products, mainly fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, and meat. Industrial relevance: High-Pressure Carbon Dioxide (HPCD) processes have shown considerable potential in enhancing food safety and shelf life while preserving nutritional and sensory qualities. However, the industrial implementation of HPCD for solid food processing presents some challenges, especially regarding the potential risk of post-process contamination. This study presents a novel patented process that aims at exploiting the power of HPCD on pre-packed solid food products, facilitating the industrialisation of the method
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Prognostic role of serum CA15.3 in 362 node-negative breast cancers : an old player for a new game
No full textThe aims of the present investigation were to evaluate the association between serum CA15.3 levels and other biological and clinical variables and its prognostic role in patients with node-negative breast cancer. We evaluated 362 patients operated upon primary breast cancer from 1982 to 1992 (median follow-up 69 months). Serum CA15.3 was measured by an immunoradiometric assay. The association between variables was investigated by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the prognostic role of CA15.3 on relapse-free survival (RFS) was investigated by Cox regression models adjusting for age, oestrogen receptor (ER), tumour stage, and ERxage interaction, with both the likelihood ratio test and Harrell's c statistic. The prognostic contribution of CA 15.3 was highly significant. Log relative hazard of relapse was constant until approximately 10 (U/ml) of CA15.3 and increased thereafter with increasing marker levels. CA15.3 showed a significant contribution using as a cut-off point a value of 31 U/ml. However, the contribution to the model of the marker as a continuous variable is much greater. From these findings, we can conclude that: (i) CA15.3 is a prognostic marker in node-negative breast cancer; (ii) its relationship with prognosis is continuous, with the risk of relapse increasing progressively from approximately 10 U/ml
Molecular Detection of Codon 12 K-RAS Mutations in Circulating DNA from Serum of Colorectal Cancer Patients
No full text Point mutations of the K-RAS gene at codon 12 are found in about 40% of cases with colorectal cancer. The diagnostic implications of the detection of these mutations and their clinical utility are still unclear. The aim of this study was to test both the feasibility of the detection of the mutated K-RAS gene in serum and its potential role in colorectal cancer detection and monitoring. Codon 12 K-RAS mutations were examined in DNA extracted from the serum of 35 patients with colorectal cancer and were compared with the K-RAS status in the corresponding primary tumor. Molecular detection was performed by the mutant-enriched PCR (ME-PCR) assay, a sensitive method capable of distinguishing a small quantity of mutated DNA in the presence of abundant wild-type DNA. The occurrence of mutations was compared with clinicopathological parameters as well as CEA and CA19.9 serum levels. We found codon 12 K-RAS mutations in the tissue of 13/35 (37%) patients. Serum mutations were detected in 5/13 (38.5%) patients with mutated K-RAS in the tissue. 26/35 (74%) patients showed an identical K-RAS pattern in tissue and serum. No codon 12 K-RAS alterations were found in serum samples of 22 patients with benign gastrointestinal diseases. Elevated serum CEA levels were detected in 16 patients, four of whom also presented serum RAS mutations. Our results confirm that K-RAS mutations can be found in circulating DNA extracted from serum samples of patients with colorectal cancer and show that there is a correspondence between serum and tissue K-RAS patterns. </jats:p
A Multi-Language Comparison of Influences on Author Verification using Character N-Grams
No full textWe create a new multi-language corpus for author verification based on Wikipedia talkpages, and evaluate the influence that differences in topic and time have on character n-gram author profiles. Topic alignment between two texts is found to increase author verification precision, and an authors writing style is found to change over time, but not more significantly after 3 years than after 1 year.Information ArchitectureWISElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
A 0.12mm<sup>2</sup> Wien-Bridge Temperature Sensor with 0.1°C (3σ) Inaccuracy from -40°C to 180°C
No full text Resistor-based temperature sensors can achieve much higher resolution and energy efficiency than conventional BJT-based sensors [1], but they typically occupy more area (> 0.25 mm 2 ) and have lower operating temperatures (le 125 {circ} {C}) [2]-[4]. This work describes a 0.12mm 2 resistor-based sensor that uses a Wien-bridge (WB) filter to achieve 0.1 {circ} {C} (3 sigma) inaccuracy from - 40 {circ} {C} to 180 {circ} {C}. Compared to a state-of-the-art WB sensor [4], it occupies 6 × less area and achieves comparable relative accuracy over a 76% wider operating range. Session 10.3 Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electronic InstrumentationMicroelectronic
A ±25A Versatile Shunt-Based Current Sensor with 10kHz Bandwidth and ±0.25% Gain Error from -40°C to 85°C Using 2-Current Calibration
No full textAccurate current sensing is critical in many industrial applications, such as battery management and motor control. Precise shunt-based current sensors have been reported with gain errors of less than 1% over the industrial temperature range (-40°C to 85°C) [1]–[4]. However, since they are intended for coulomb counting, their bandwidth is limited to a few tens of Hz, making them unsuitable for battery impedance or motor-current sensing. This paper presents a current sensor with a wide (10kHz) bandwidth and a tunable temperature compensation scheme (TCS), which allows it to be flexibly used with different types of shunts while maintaining high accuracy. A low-cost room-temperature calibration scheme is proposed to optimize gain flatness over temperature by exploiting the shunt's self-heating at large currents. Over the industrial temperature range and a ±25A current range, it achieves state-of-the-art gain error (±0.25%) with both low-cost PCB and stable metal-alloy shunts.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electronic InstrumentationMicroelectronic
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