PURPOSE The objective of this study is to determine whether or not plasma cfDNA levels can predict efficacy of sorafenib in patient with metastatic cRCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plasma cfDNA levels were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR at six different time-points (before treatment, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, and 24 weeks) in 18 metastatic cRCC patients receiving sorafenib, a...

One of the key diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder includes impairments in social interactions. This study compared the extent to which boys with high-functioning autism and typically developing boys "value" engaging in activities with a parent or alone. Two different assessments that can empirically determine the relative reinforcing value of social and non-social stimuli were emp...

Oncology trial end-points continue to receive considerable attention, as illustrated by the development and revisions to the RECIST criteria. In this article, we focus the reader away from the issue of end-points for phase II trials and towards what we believe to be an even more important issue, the fundamental need for randomisation in phase II oncology trials, ideally with blinding and dose-r...

We introduce and study some classes of meromorphic functions defined by using a meromorphic analogue of Noor [also Choi-Saigo-Srivastava] operator for analytic functions. Several inclusion results and some other interesting properties of these classes are investigated.

In modern computing systems, networking is critical. In the context of trusted application environments, building a trusted networking interface remains an open question. In this paper, we categorize the networking needs of trusted applications into three modes: Local Equivalent, Trusted Local Networks and Internet-Wide Trusted Networking. Collectively these modes enable trusted applications to...

In this study, we examined the frequency of sensory-related issues as reported by parents in a large sample of school-age adolescents and adults with autism/autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [1] as compared to a group of individuals receiving similar clinical evaluations for developmental/behavioral difficulties but whose final diagnoses were not on the autism spectrum. In no comparison were the f...

In the most of scenarios, the trusted center dose not existed. A new verifiable threshold decryption scheme without trusted center was proposed in this paper. In order to publicly verify the identity of decryption member, the scheme forces the member to submit a commitment at the beginning of the process. Moreover, the scheme has several advantages such as cheat-proof and dynamic member revoking.

The success of a dispute resolution over an electronic transaction depends on the possibility of trustworthily recreating it. It is crucial to maintain a trusted, thus fully auditable, repository to which a judge could request a transaction recreation. This article presents a practical scheme providing strong guarantees about the auditability of a trusted repository. We use the messaging paradi...

Efficiency of optimistic fair exchange using trusted devices is studied. Pfitzmann, Schunter and Waidner (PODC 1998) have shown that four messages in the main sub-protocol is optimal when exchanging idempotent items using non-trusted devices. It is straightforward that when using trusted devices for exchanging nonidempotent items this number can be reduced to three. This however comes at the co...

Clinical psychiatric evaluations of patients have changed dramatically in recent decades. Both initial assessments and follow-up visits have become brief and superficial, focused on searching for categorical diagnostic criteria from checklists, with limited inquiry into patient-reported symptomatic status and tolerability of treatments. The virtually exclusive therapeutic task has become select...