On the average number of cycles in conjugacy class products

Background: In the second half of the twentieth century, cancer treatment options evolved with more sophisticated selection of targets for cancer therapy, which led to the development of more intelligent drugs directed against these specific targets. One group of pharmaceutical molecules with specific and unique properties against (or for) a welldefined molecular target is monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The purpose of this study was to show the expenditure of mAbs at the Oncology Institute of Vojvodina from 2007 to 2011. Next, to display the number of patients treated with mAbs and therapy cycles, for each indication. Methods: We used software programs Lirpis and LWM for collecting the data regarding mAbs expenditure from April 2007 to 2011. The comments about the situation in Serbia were given with the review on the FDA approvals. Results: The results showed the increase in number of ampoules dispensed from the pharmacy from 2007 to 2010, and a slight decrease in 2011 for all mAbs. With 4070 vials of rituximab, 195 patients were treated. The average number of therapy cycles was 7.34. With total number of 4341 of trastuzumab, we treated 310 patients, with average number of cycles 12.27. With 1343 ampoules of bevacizumab, we treated 92 patients. The average number of cycles was 6.63. With 7051 ampoules of cetuximab, we treated 94 patients, with average number of therapy cycle of 5.94. Conclusion: Despite proven benefits of mAbs for many other indications according to FDA, in our Institution (based on the indications approved by Republic Institute of Health Insurance), bevacizumab, and cetuximab are used for colorectal cancer, trastuzumab is only used for breast cancer and rituximab for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The decrease of the number of ampoules dispensed from our pharmacy and the number of patients in 2011 was caused by tightening the criteria indications by Republic Institute of Health Insurance.

Optimization of the Donor Insemination Program: A Variation on the Theme

Reproductive potential of women undergoing ART: analysis of linked cycles from the Massachusetts SART CORS

Objective: Vinorelbine monotherapy has been shown to be effective in recurrent or metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer. This study aimed at evaluating the treatment results of vinorelbine monotherapy inlung cancer patients relapsed after curative treatment.Patients and methods: Descriptive study of 56 non-small cell lung cancer patients who were treatedwith vinorelbine monotherapy relapsed after curative treatment at National Cancer Hospital between June2018 and August 2020.Results: The mean age was 56.9 years old. Ratio male:female = 3.3:1. The percentage ofadenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma was 67.9% and 26.8%, respectively. Most patients (76.8%)relapsed within one year after curative treatment. The most common relapse sites were lung, bone, andpleura (85.7%, 33.9%, 30.4% respectively).The total number of treatment cycles was 428 with the averagenumber of cycles was 6.1 ± 3.2, ranging from 2 to 21 cycles. Treatment response: no patient achievedcomplete response, the disease control rate was 76.8% (partial response rate 21.4%, the stable diseaserate 55.4%). Histopathology and the number of relapsed site did not affect the response rate. Median PFSwas 5.3 months. The number of cycles of leukopenia and neutropenia accounted for 32.5% and 34.1%,respectively, of which only 1.4% was in grade 3 and grade 4. Other common nonhematologic side effectswere nausea/vomiting (15.2%); diarrhea (4.7%) and gastritis (2.8%), which were mild and did not affect thetreatment course.Conclusion: Vinorelbine monotherapy is an effective option in relapsed NSCLC patients with a goodsafety profile.Keywords: Lung cancer, vinorelbine monotherapy, NSCLC, recurrence

BackgroundRituximab is used in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Moreover, it has other uses which are not included in Technical Data Sheet (TDS).PurposeTo analyse...

Division is generally regarded as a low-frequency, high-latency operation in integer operations. Division is also the operation that stalls the processor pipeline most frequently. In order to improve the overall performance of embedded processors, a low-delay divider for embedded processors was designed. Based on the non-restoring algorithm, the divider uses a compound adder to execute addition and subtraction simultaneously and reduces the iteration path delay. By shifting the operands to align the most effective bits, the divider dynamically adjusts the number of iteration cycles to reduce the average number of cycles in the division process. The divider design was simulated by Modelsim and implemented on a FPGA board for verification. Synthesized in a Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) 65 nm Low Leakage process, the achieved frequency of the design was up to 500 MHz and the area cost was 5670.36 μm2. Compared with other dividers, the proposed divider design can reduce the delay of single iteration by up to 45.3%, save the average number of iteration cycles by 20–50%, and save the area by 23.3–86.1%. Compared with other dividers implemented on FPGA, it saves LUTs by 36.47–59.6% and FFs by 67–84.28%, runs 2–6.36 times faster. Therefore, the proposed design is suitable for embedded processors that require low power consumption, low resource consumption, and high performance.

Sphere decoding has been used for maximum likelihood (ML) detection of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems. In order to combine the sphere decoder with the outer channel code decoder, researchers have proposed to include a candidate list in the sphere decoder to provide soft information to the channel code decoder. This algorithm is called list sphere decoder (LSD). With the LSD, due to the introduction of the candidate list, the decoding speed is around 10 times lower than that of the conventional sphere decoder (SD) if the LSD uses the largest Euclidean distance (ED) in the list for the radius reduction. At the same time, if the candidate list is divided into multiple sublists to reduce the complexity of the list updating circuit, the average number of cycles required becomes even larger. Meanwhile, in real applications, the maximal number of cycles in the sphere decoder is usually bounded to guarantee a certain data throughput. This bound will also affect the performance of the LSD. In this paper, we propose a radius reduction method which uses either the mean value or the median value of the Euclidean distances (ED) of the candidates in the list. This algorithm leads to a faster decoding speed with little or no performance loss. If the idea of using sublists is applied, this radius reduction method reduces the amount of increase in the average number of cycles. Furthermore, if a bound is set on the maximal number of cycles, this method can provide better performance than the original LSD. We also propose a simple performance evaluation method for comparing different radius reduction methods without involving a real soft-input-soft-output channel code decoder.

This paper presents a novel time and voltage based technique for successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to improve the conversion speed. By taking advantage of the fact that at low supply voltage there will be a significant difference in comparator decision time for different input voltages, the proposed technique creates multiple auxiliary voltage levels for comparison and hence eliminates the need of additional comparators for acceleration as compared with the existing methods. In addition, a digital self-learning module is also presented, which calculates the uncertainty window required for bound update in the proposed method and thus adjusts to different process corners. To validate these concepts, a 10-bit SAR ADC is designed in 130nm CMOS process with 0.5V power supply voltage. The circuit operates in both conventional and proposed modes. Simulations show that the largest number of conversion cycles is 7, hence resulting in an acceleration of 30% over the conventional scheme, while the average number of cycles is 5.58. Simulation results also demonstrate that the proposed method does not affect accuracy. Both ADC operation modes achieve SNDR (signal-to-noise distortion ratio) of 59dB, corresponding to an ENOB (effective number of bits) of 9.5-bits.

From the viewpoint of engineering, fatigue is an important issue as most of the mechanical failures are associated with fatigue damage. In fact, these disastrous events had occurred unexpectedly during the regular working conditions and most of the time the applied stresses are well below the yield strength of the material. Thus, it makes the prediction of fatigue damage a challenging task in the field of engineering, especially when the manmade structures and machines are getting more complex than before. Even though fatigue has been studied extensively in the past 170 years, many limitations are still being found within the current fatigue analysis, testing and the non-destructive inspection. Hence, there is a great need to develop a precise and yet efficient inspection technique in quantifying the fatigue cracks. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a quantifiable approach in monitoring the fatigue cracks using digital image correlation technique. This can be achieved by using a developed two-dimensional sub-pixel accuracy deformation measurement algorithm which determines the deformation parameters of the first-order shape function of a material subjected to cyclic loading. Next, fatigue tests for samples made of mild steel (Grade: JIS G 3101 SS400) were conducted in accordance to the ASTM E466. Simultaneously, an industrial grade camera was used to capture the fatigue crack’s region at a specific interval until the sample broke into two pieces. The captured images were then analysed and the deformation parameters such as translations, normal and shear strains values were determined by using the developed digital image correlation algorithm. Based on the determined deformation patterns, a specific trend was observed throughout the graphs of respective deformation parameters against the number of cycles. Besides, drastic changes were observed when the average number of cycles was approaching 95.5% (min. loading) and 93.8% (max. loading) of the total fatigue life. In conclusion, the digital image correlation technique was proven to be capable in monitoring the severity of a fatigue crack and the proposed monitoring system would serve as an inspection technique in examining the fatigue damage of a structural component throughout its operational period.

To evaluate the effect of rotational speed on cyclic fatigue of Mtwo nickel-titanium files. A total of 120 new Mtwo rotary instruments sizes 10, 0.04 taper; 15, 0.05 taper; 20, 0.05 taper; and 25, 0.06 taper were randomly divided into three groups on the basis of the rotational speed used to shape nine standardized simulated canals: group A=350rpm; group B=250rpm; group C=150rpm. Each group consisted of 40 instruments, 10 for every size. The average preparation time (in seconds) and the average correlated numbers of cycles to instrument (NCI) the nine standardized canals were recorded for each file. The resistance to cyclic fatigue was determined by counting numbers of cycles to failure (NCF) with a rotational speed of 300rpm in a 60° curve with a 5-mm radius. Data were analysed by two-way anova. Preparation time was significantly longer at 150rpm than at 250 or 350rpm. The average number of cycles needed for each file to instrument nine standardized canals was significantly higher at 350 and 250rpm, than at 150rpm. There were no significant differences in the NCF (P>0.05) between A, B and C groups for instruments of the same size. Speed did not affect the cyclic fatigue of Mtwo instruments with the same size and taper. Preparation time was shorter at 350 or 250rpm rather than at 150rpm. However, there was no significant difference between 350 and 250rpm rotational speed, neither in the preparation time of simulated canals nor in the resistance to fatigue fracture.

To compare the efficacy of 2 intertrochanteric (IT) fracture fixation devices in conferring mechanical stability to unstable IT femur fractures. Nine pairs of cadaveric female femurs with a groupwise average bone quality indicative of osteopenia were used. An unstable IT fracture without calcar support (OTA/AO 31-A2) was created and stabilized with either a sliding hip screw and side plate (SHS) or a cephalomedullary nail using an integrated dual-screw fixation [InterTAN (ITN)]. Constructs were evaluated under stepwise and increasing cyclic loading up to 50,000 cycles (1500 N) or by failure in a test model that may best simulate hip joint contact forces at heel strike. Number of cycles to failure, failure load, and femoral head rotation about the screw axis were compared between groups. The average number of cycles in the ITN group was greater compared with that in the SHS group (48,383 vs. 31,403 cycles, P = 0.046). Similarly, the average maximum load survived by the ITN group was greater than that of the SHS group (1456 vs. 1113 N, P = 0.046). The number of constructs that survived up to the maximum applied load of 1500 N was greater in the ITN group (8/9, 89%) when compared with that of the SHS constructs (3/9, 33%) (P = 0.049). Finally, the ITN group conferred greater rotational control of the femoral head compared with the SHS constructs (1.5 vs. 5.5 degrees, P = 0.018), and reduced the amount of varus collapse (11.1 vs. 31.1 degrees, P = 0.038). The integrated dual-screw construct appeared to confer significantly greater fracture stability compared with a sliding hip screw and side plate using a worst-case model that simulates heel strike during gait. Study data provide biomechanical evidence that the ITN device may provide more stability and rotational resistance than a sliding hip screw in the elderly female patient population with an unstable IT fracture and compromised bone quality.

BackgroundB-cell depletion with Rituximab (RTX) has been used since since 2000 in the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). An issue with the use of RTX is the attrition rate...

Pregnancy loss in the first in vitro fertilization cycle is not predictive of subsequent delivery in women over 40 years

It is well known that normal sleep, as measured by the EEG is not a uniform state but varies from shallow to deep sleep in a cyclical manner. The duration of the cycle is roughly 1.5 h. It has been suggested that disruption of these cycles can have unfavorable effects on a subject's performance during the following day [M. Herbert and R. T. Wilkinson, Proc. Mt. Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem (1973)]. Twelve subjects slept in 60 dB of free‐flowing traffic noise on 12 alternate nights while the level during the other 12 nights was the ambient level of about 32 dB. If every waking or shift to a shallow sleep level is considered to be the beginning of a new cycle, then the average number of cycles per night during the noise night is about 6% greater than during the quiet nights. If only an extended period of shallow sleep is judged to be the beginning of a new cycle, then noise has no effect on the number of cycles per night.

Background and importancePertuzumab is indicated for use in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel in adult patients with HER2-positive metastatic or locally recurrent unresectable breast cancer, who have not received previous...