Assessment of survival and cardiotoxicity of adjuvant trastuzumab among HER2 breast cancer patients in an oncology centre in Malaysia / Harissa H Hasbullah … [et al.]

Adjuvant trastuzumab has been used in human epidermal growth factor-2 (HER2) breast cancer to improve survival but with concern of cardiotoxicity. Our study is the first to review efficacy and toxicity of adjuvant trastuzumab in Malaysia. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study on HER2 non metastatic breast cancer patients in University Malaya Medical Centre diagnosed between October 2006 and May 2011. Two cohorts were created based on whether or not they received adjuvant trastuzumab. Disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for both groups were estimated using Kaplan Meier method and compared using Log rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression models analysed for potential covariates of age, tumour size and grade, node and estrogen receptor (ER) status. Trastuzumab cardiotoxicity was defined as left ventricular systolic dysfunction or heart failure with or without symptoms and graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE 4.0). Results: 170 HER2 non metastatic breast cancer patients were identified. Thirty-three received trastuzumab and 136 did not. Median age was 53.4 ± 10.3 years old. Significantly more ER negative patients received trastuzumab. Four years DFS in ‘trastuzumab’ versus ‘no trastuzumab’ cohort was 90.9% vs 74.5% (p = 0.027). Four years OS was 91% vs 84.7% (p = 0.30) respectively. Majority tolerated trastuzumab with no toxicity. Five patients (15.2%) experienced cardiotoxicity (all grade I).Conclusions: Adjuvant trastuzumab significantly improved DFS in HER2 breast cancer. Treatment was well tolerated. With this we propose the justification for adjuvant trastuzumab in HER2 breast cancer in our population

A Study On The Performances Of Mewma And Mcusum Charts For Skewed Distributions.

A multivariate chart, instead of separate univariate charts is used for a joint monitoring of several correlated variables

Determinants of PhD student satisfaction::The roles of supervisor, department, and peer qualities

Understanding the determinants of PhD student satisfaction is likely to become increasingly vital for universities as student satisfaction rankings already ubiquitous at undergraduate and master degree levels extend more broadly to the PhD level. Moreover, as PhD student populations and university competition become increasingly transnational, there is a growing need to understand cross-nationally common determinants of satisfaction. Building on prior research into PhD student satisfaction, and drawing upon relevant conceptual and metrical refinements in the measurement of satisfaction from cognate domains of psychology, we use cross-sectional data (N=409) from PhD candidates across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities in 63 universities from 20 countries to examine how overall PhD student satisfaction is determined by, respectively and in combination, supervisor, department, and peer-group, in terms of both their academic qualities and supportiveness. Taken together, we find that supervisor supportiveness is the greatest predictor of PhD student satisfaction, but that supervisor academic qualities have no significant effect. However, both the academic qualities and supportiveness of departments significantly predict PhD student satisfaction, suggesting university departments and PhD supervisors would ideally work jointly, and perhaps more closely than many currently do, to achieve competitive levels of PhD student satisfaction

Estimation of aboveground biomass of a production forest reserve in Malaysian Borneo using K-nearest neighbor method

This study examined the use of the k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) method to estimate aboveground biomass of a logged-over tropical forest in Sabah, Malaysia. To estimate aboveground biomass, field data as well as digital number and normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) values from Landsat TM-5 data were used to determine the optimum horizontal reference area and the number of reference sample plots (k). An accuracy assessment showed that enhancing the digital number value was superior to enhancing the NDVI value. Root mean square errors of no filtering and 3 × 3 filtering were minimum when k = 4 and k = 5 respectively, when a horizontal reference area of 17 km was applied. The bias was underestimated by 2.01 and 1.62 tonnes ha-1 for k = 4 and k = 5 respectively. Total aboveground biomass of the forest management unit estimated by enhancing the digital number value was 6,873,299 tonnes and average biomass density was 248.8 tonnes ha-1. The results suggest that the k-NN method is an alternative way to estimate and map aboveground biomass of a forest management unit

The occupational attractiveness of the built environment and the roles of individualism and collectivism: a hidden source of conflict and gender imbalance?

The success of built environment projects is closely dependent on strong collective cooperation. Yet abundant anecdotal and academic evidence attests to weak collective cooperation within the industry. To date, no research in the built environment has investigated either the individual-level differences in individualism/collectivism that affect cooperativeness, or how gender may interact with these individual-level traits. In this research we seek to make a positive contribution by using the individual rather than organization as the unit of analysis. We first test the possibility that the built environment may in fact attract uncooperative individuals who are more individualistic than collectivist with respect to two specimen subsectors, i.e. construction management and architecture. At the same time we also employ a nuanced distinction between horizontal and vertical facets of individualism/collectivism, and assess potential interactions with gender. Using individual-level data (N¼548), we find that both the architecture and construction management subsectors are occupationally attractive to individuals from opposing ends of the horizontal and vertical individualism/collectivism spectrums, and that these traits interact with gender. We argue that our findings both expose an individual-level source of poor collective cooperation in the built environment industry, and underscore the need to address persistently low female recruitment and retention rates

The use of a blood conservation device to reduce red blood cell transfusion requirements: a before and after study

10.1186/cc8859Critical Care141R

Estimating logged-over lowland rainforest aboveground biomass in Sabah, Malaysia using airborne LiDAR data

Unprecedented deforestation and forest degradation in recent decades have severely depleted the carbon storage in Borneo. Estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) with high accuracy is crucial to quantifying carbon stocks for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation-plus implementation (REDD+). Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a promising remote sensing technology that provides fine-scale forest structure variability data. This paper highlights the use of airborne LiDAR data for estimating the AGB of a logged-over tropical forest in Sabah, Malaysia. The LiDAR data was acquired using an Optech Orion C200 sensor onboard a fixed wing aircraft. The canopy height of each LiDAR point was calculated from the height difference between the first returns and the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) constructed from the ground points. Among the obtained LiDAR height metrics, the mean canopy height produced the strongest relationship with the observed AGB. This single-variable model had a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 80.02 t ha-1 or 22.31% of the mean AGB, which performed exceptionally when compared with recent tropical rainforest studies. Overall, airborne LiDAR did provide fine-scale canopy height measurements for accurately and reliably estimating the AGB in a logged-over forest in Sabah, thus supporting the state's effort in realizing the REDD+ mechanism