1,720,964 research outputs found
Prospective Evaluation of MGMT-Promoter Methylation Status and Correlations with Outcomes to Temozolomide-Based Chemotherapy in Well-Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors
Full text linkTemozolomide (TEM) as a single agent or in combination with capecitabine (CAPTEM) is active in well-differentiated advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of gastro-entero-pancreatic and thoracic origin. The predictive role of MGMT-promoter methylation in this setting is controversial. We sought to prospectively evaluate the MGMT-promoter methylation status ability to predict outcomes to TEM-based chemotherapy in patients with NET. A single-center, prospective, observational study has been conducted at the ENETS Center-of-Excellence Outpatient Clinic of the IRCCS Policlinico Sant’Orsola-Malpighi in Bologna, Italy. Patients with advanced, gastro-entero-pancreatic or lung well-differentiated NETs candidate to TEM-based chemotherapy and with available tumor samples for MGMT-promoter methylation assessment were included. The MGMT-promoter methylation status was analyzed by using pyrosequencing. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) by the MGMT-promoter methylation status. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety. Survival outcomes were compared by restricted mean survival time (RMST) difference. Of 26 screened patients, 22 were finally enrolled in the study. The most frequent NET primary sites were the pancreas (64%) and the lung (23%). MGMT promoter was methylated in five tumors (23%). At a median follow-up time of 47.2 months (95%CI 29.3–89.7), the median PFS was 32.8 months (95%CI 17.2–NA), while the median OS was not reached. Patients in the methylated MGMT group, when compared to those in the unmethylated MGMT group, had longer PFS (median not reached [95%CI NA–NA] vs. 30.2 months [95%CI 15.2–NA], respectively; RMST p = 0.005) and OS (median not reached [95%CI NA–NA] vs. not reached [40.1–NA], respectively; RMST p = 0.019). After adjusting for confounding factors, the MGMT-promoter methylation status was independently associated to the PFS. Numerically higher ORR (60% vs. 24%; p = 0.274) and DCR (100% vs. 88%; p = 1.00) were observed in the methylated vs. unmethylated MGMT group. TEM-based chemotherapy was well-tolerated (adverse events grade ≥3 < 10%). In this prospective study, MGMT-promoter methylation predicted better outcomes to TEM-based chemotherapy in patients with NET
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
Encephalic Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis during Treatment with Sunitinib for Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Report
Full text linkRenal cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor that arises in the kidney parenchyma. For many years, sunitinib has represented the mainstay of medical treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Herein, we present the case of a 66-year-old woman with metastatic clear cell renal carcinoma undergoing treatment with sunitinib for two years that developed encephalic leukocytoclastic vasculitis, probably due to a paraneoplastic syndrome
La cardiomiopatia amiloidotica correlata alla transtiretina: Alla ricerca del trattamento eziologico
No full textTransthyretin (TTR)-related amyloidosis is a disease caused by the deposition of insoluble fibrils deriving from the misfolding of TTR, a protein mainly produced by the liver. In the hereditary form of the disease (ATTRm), protein misfolding is secondary to a mutation in the TTR gene. ATTRm can manifest with different phenotypes: mainly neurological, mainly cardiac, or mixed. In the senile form of the disease (wild-type TTR or SSA), the deposition of non-mutated TTR occurs and, clinically, cardiomyopathy is predominant. Cardiac amyloidosis is still an underdiagnosed disease and clinical heterogeneity makes the diagnosis challenging. Until recently, no specific pharmacological treatment was available, liver transplantation being the only therapeutic option aimed at slowing disease progression in ATTRm and treatment was based on symptom relief. This review focuses on the emerging pharmacological treatments for TTR-related amyloidosis targeting different steps of the amyloidogenic process (blocking hepatic TTR synthesis, TTR tetramer stabilization and promotion of TTR amyloid fibril clearance). © 2014 Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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