Yahoo!

About: Yahoo! is a company organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Web search query. The organization has 26749 authors who have published 29915 publications receiving 732583 citations. The organization is also known as: Yahoo! Inc. & Maudwen-Yahoo! Inc.

Multicenter Randomized Trial Comparing Sequential With Concomitant Administration of Doxorubicin and Docetaxel As First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Spanish Breast Cancer Research Group (GEICAM-9903) Phase III Study

Abstract: Purpose This randomized, multicenter, phase III trial evaluated whether sequential doxorubicin and docetaxel (A→T) reduced hematological toxicity, especially febrile neutropenia, compared with concomitant (AT) administration as first-line chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Patients and Methods One hundred forty-four patients were randomly assigned to receive three cycles of doxorubicin 75 mg/m2 every 21 days followed by three cycles of docetaxel 100 mg/m2, every 21 days (A→T) or six cycles of the combination doxorubicin 50 mg/m2 and docetaxel 75 mg/m2 (AT) every 21 days. Patients previously treated with anthracyclines received two cycles of doxorubicin followed by four cycles of docetaxel (A→T), or three cycles of AT followed by three cycles of docetaxel 100 mg/m2 every 21 days. Results Febrile neutropenia was less common in the A→T arm (29.3% of patients, 6.9% of cycles) compared with the AT arm (47.8% of patients, 14.8% of cycles; P = .02 and P = .0004, respectively). Asthenia, diarrhea, an...

Antimicrobial Peptide 99mTc-Ubiquicidin 29–41 as Human Infection-Imaging Agent: Clinical Trial

Abstract: Ubiquicidin (UBI) 29–41 is a cationic, synthetic antimicrobial peptide fragment that binds preferentially with the anionic microbial cell membrane at the site of infection. The current study was conducted to evaluate its potential as an infection-imaging agent in humans. Methods: Eighteen patients, 9 female and 9 male (mean age, 31.7 y; range, 5–75 y), with suspected bone, soft-tissue, or prosthesis infections were included in the study. 99mTc-UBI 29–41 in a dose of 400 μg/370–400 MBq was injected intravenously in adults. A dynamic study was followed by spot views of the suspected region of infection (target) and a corresponding normal area (nontarget) at 30, 60, 120, and 240 min. The target-to-nontarget ratios were used to find the optimum time for imaging. Whole-body anterior and posterior images were also acquired at 30, 120, and 240 min to study biodistribution. Activity in each organ was expressed as percentage retained dose. Visual score (0–3) was used to categorize studies as positive or negative, with scores of 0 (minimal or no uptake; equivalent to soft tissue) and 1 (mild; less uptake than in liver) being considered negative and scores of 2 (moderate; uptake greater than or equal to that in liver) and 3 (intense; uptake greater than or equal to that in kidneys) being considered positive. Scans were interpreted as true- or false-positive and true- or false-negative on the basis of bacterial culture as the major criterion and the results of clinical tests, radiography, and 3-phase bone scanning as minor criteria. Results: The biodistribution study showed a gradual decline in renal activity as percentage of administered dose from 6.53% ± 0.58% at 30 min to 4.54% ± 0.57% at 120 min and 3.38% ± 0.55% at 240 min. The liver showed a similar trend, with values of 5.43% ± 0.76%, 3.17% ± 0.25%, and 2.02% ± 0.30% at 30, 120, and 240 min, respectively. Radioactivity accumulated gradually in the urinary bladder, with values of 4.60% ± 0.92% at 30 min, 23.00% ± 2.32% at 120 min, and 38.85% ± 4.01% at 240 min. Of 18 studies performed with 99mTc-UBI 29–41, 14 showed positive findings and 4 showed negative findings. Negative findings were subsequently confirmed to be true negative. The positive findings for 1 scan were interpreted as false positive, as no growth was obtained on bacterial culture and no evidence of infection was found on minor criteria. In 10 cases, the major criterion was used, whereas in 4 cases minor criteria had to be used for interpretation. Quantitative analysis revealed a maximum mean target-to-nontarget ratio of 2.75 ± 1.69 at 30 min, which decreased to 2.04 ± 1.01 at 120 min. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 100%, 80%, and 94.4%, respectively. No adverse reactions were observed during image acquisition and within 5 d after the study. Conclusion:99mTc-UBI 29–41 showed promise in localizing foci of infection, with optimal visualization at 30 min.

Environmental and health impacts of household solid waste handling and disposal practices in third world cities: the case of the Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana.

Abstract: Inadequate provision of solid waste management facilities in Third World cities results in indiscriminate disposal and unsanitary environments, which threatens the health of urban residents. The study reported here examined household-level waste management and disposal practices in the Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana. The residents of Accra currently generate large amounts of solid waste, beyond the management capabilities of the existing waste management system. Because the solid waste infrastructure is inadequate, over 80 percent of the population do not have home collection services. Only 13.5 percent of respondents are served with door-to-door collection of solid waste, while the rest dispose of their waste at communal collection points, in open spaces, and in waterways. The majority of households store their waste in open containers and plastic bags in the home. Waste storage in the home is associated with the presence of houseflies in the kitchen (r = .17, p < .0001). The presence of houseflies in the kitchen during cooking is correlated with the incidence of childhood diarrhea (r = .36, p < .0001). Inadequate solid waste facilities result in indiscriminate burning and burying of solid waste. There is an association between waste burning and the incidence of respiratory health symptoms among adults (r = .25, p < .0001) and children (r = .22, p < .05). Poor handling and disposal of waste are major causes of environmental pollution, which creates breeding grounds for pathogenic organisms, and the spread of infectious diseases. Improving access to solid waste collection facilities and services will help achieve sound environmental health in Accra.

Mining social media with social theories: a survey

Abstract: The increasing popularity of social media encourages more and more users to participate in various online activities and produces data in an unprecedented rate. Social media data is big, linked, noisy, highly unstructured and in- complete, and differs from data in traditional data mining, which cultivates a new research field - social media mining. Social theories from social sciences are helpful to explain social phenomena. The scale and properties of social media data are very different from these of data social sciences use to develop social theories. As a new type of social data, social media data has a fundamental question - can we apply social theories to social media data? Recent advances in computer science provide necessary computational tools and techniques for us to verify social theories on large-scale social media data. Social theories have been applied to mining social media. In this article, we review some key social theories in mining social media, their verification approaches, interesting findings, and state-of-the-art algorithms. We also discuss some future directions in this active area of mining social media with social theories.

The degree of oxidative stress is associated with major adverse effects after lung resection: a prospective study.

Abstract: Objective This prospective randomized study was conducted in order to define the contribution of the generated oxygen and nitrogen reactive species on postlobectomy morbidity and mortality. Patients and methods Between 2001 and 2003, 132 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were prospectively studied. The patients were grouped according to one-lung ventilation (OLV) use or not and to the duration of lung's atelectasis. Group A included 50 patients with confirmed non-small cell lung cancer who were subjected to lobectomy without one-lung ventilation. Group B included 30 patients subjected to 60 min OLV. Group C included 30 patients subjected to 90 min OLV. Group D included 22 patients subjected to 120 min OLV. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative strict blood sampling protocol was followed. Malondialdehyde (MDA) plasma levels were measured. The groups were statistically compared for the occurrence of postoperative complications. OLV (groups B-D) along with other clinical parameters were entered in multivariate analysis as risk factors for complication development. Measurements and results Comparison of group A with groups B-D (OLV) documented significant increase (p group C>group B, all p Conclusion Protracted (>1h) OLV should be considered a potential cause for cardiovascular complications through the generation of severe oxidative stress due to lung reexpansion.