Numerous studies have demonstrated that angiogenesis and in particular VEGF over-expression play an essential role in the progression and metastatic potential of breast cancer. Bevacizumab is a ...humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody that specifically blocks the binding of VEGF to high-affinity receptors and it has been recently used for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis to synthesize available evidence for use of bevacizumab in metastatic breast cancer patients. Systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials. Primary outcomes were overall survival, progression free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR). Five trials were identified with 3,163 eligible patients. Combination of bevacizumab and chemotherapy resulted in a statistically significant improvement in PFS (HR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.60-0.82, P = 9.3 × 10⁻⁶) and ORR (RR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.17-1.37, P = 9.96 × 10⁻⁹) compared with chemotherapy alone. Differences in objective response rates were substantial independently by the type of chemotherapy used, while PFS advantages were observed only for taxanes. The pooled HR for overall survival did not show significant advantage for the use of bevacizumab compared to placebo arm (HR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.80-1.03, P = 0.119). This meta-analysis shows that the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy offers meaningful improvement in PFS and ORR in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Bevacizumab treatment might be suggested for treatment of 1st line metastatic breast cancer, but more data are needed until statistical overall survival differences will be documented and firm guideline recommendation could be given.
Amaranth protein-lipid (PL) and protein (P) films were elaborated and compared with amaranth flour films in order to determine the contribution of the interactions between the biopolymer (starch and ...protein) and the lipids to the film properties. The films were made by the casting method, using the same glycerol concentration (0.9 g glycerol/100 g solution). A separation of the lipid fraction in the PL films and a polymorphic transformation of the corresponding fatty acids were observed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and verified by an analysis of the microstructure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The flour films showed no separation of the lipid fraction, evidence that the lipids were strongly associated with the proteins and homogenously distributed throughout the starch network, contributing to the good mechanical properties when compared to the PL films and to the excellent barrier properties when compared to both the PL and P films. The protein-protein interactions also contributed to the mechanical properties of the flour films. The presence of proteins and lipids in the flour films had an important effect on film solubility, and also on the color and opacity of the films. This study showed that the flour film properties depended on the interactions formed by their polymers (starches and proteins) and by the lipid, on the distribution of these interactions within the film matrix and on the concentrations of each component in the film.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the microencapsulation (by spray drying) of the whey-native probiotic yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus VM004 in matrices of whey protein concentrate ...(WPC) and water-soluble chitosan (WSCh) on the viability of the yeast during drying and storage and in simulated gastrointestinal conditions. The optimized outlet drying temperature was 68 °C. This temperature allowed obtaining an encapsulation efficiency of 91% for a suspension of 10% (w/v) WPC. Yeasts microencapsulated in WSCh showed a significantly improved tolerance to simulated gastrointestinal conditions in comparison to free yeasts and yeasts microencapsulated in WPC. Besides, the solids content showed a significant influence on the probiotic viability during storage, with a suspension with 30% (w/v) solids (29:1 WPC:WSCh) showing 95% of viability after passing through gastrointestinal conditions. The results allow expanding the development of mixtures of encapsulating materials to improve the probiotic aptitude of a food ingredient powder.
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•K. marxianus was successfully microencapsulates in WPC:WSCh by spray drying.•WSCh improved resistance to the gastrointestinal conditions.•Solids content enhances the probiotic count during GI conditions and storage.•WPC:WSCh increase the viability during storage for 90 days at room temperature.
Super-massive black holes in active galaxies can accelerate particles to relativistic energies, producing jets with associated -ray emission. Galactic 'microquasars', which are binary systems ...consisting of a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole accreting gas from a companion star, also produce relativistic jets, generally together with radio flares. Apart from an isolated event detected in Cygnus X-1, there has hitherto been no systematic evidence for the acceleration of particles to gigaelectronvolt or higher energies in a microquasar, with the consequence that we are as yet unsure about the mechanism of jet energization. Here we report four -ray flares with energies above 100 MeV from the microquasar Cygnus X-3 (an exceptional X-ray binary that sporadically produces radio jets). There is a clear pattern of temporal correlations between the -ray flares and transitional spectral states of the radio-frequency and X-ray emission. Particle acceleration occurred a few days before radio-jet ejections for two of the four flares, meaning that the process of jet formation implies the production of very energetic particles. In Cygnus X-3, particle energies during the flares can be thousands of times higher than during quiescent states.
The influence of drying conditions (air temperature and relative humidity) on mechanical properties, solubility in water, and color of two kinds of soy protein isolate film: a commercial one (CSPI) ...and other obtained under laboratory conditions (LSPI) were evaluated using the response surface methodology (RSM). Soy protein films were prepared by casting using glycerol as plasticizer. The films were dried in a chamber with air circulation under controlled conditions of relative humidity (24%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 66%) and air temperature (34, 40, 55, 70, 76
°C). It was verified that mechanical properties of films made from LSPI and CSPI are influenced in a very different way by the drying conditions due to a diverse initial protein conformation in both materials, as was revealed by DSC and SDS–Page studies. The solubility of the LSPI film was affected by temperature and relative humidity, being lowest (∼50%) for films obtained at high RH and temperatures ranging from 45 to 76
°C. For CSPI films, in contrast, solubility did not depend on the drying process and it remained relatively constant (∼40%). The optimal drying conditions determined by RSM were: 70
°C and 30% RH for CSPI films and 60
°C and 60% RH for LSPI films. Dried under these conditions, CSPI films presented a higher tensile strength, lower elongation at break, lower solubility and better water and oxygen permeability than LSPI ones.
This paper proposes a 0-1 integer linear programming model for the point-feature cartographic label placement problem based on labeling of the largest number of free labels. In addition, one ...non-trivial valid inequality is presented to strengthen this proposed model. Even with the strengthened model, a commercial solver was not able to solve a representative sample of known instances presented in the literature. Thus, we also present a Lagrangean decomposition technique based on graph partitioning. Our added approaches established optimal solutions for practically all the used instances and the results significantly improved the ones presented in recent studies concerning the problem.
Mechanical, physical, and barrier properties of films obtained from soy protein isolate solutions at different pH were studied and correlated with the structural properties and the microstructure of ...films. Films obtained at pH 2 and 11, which had denser microstructures and a higher amount of disulfide bonds, showed a higher tensile strength -- of about 1.05 MPa -- and a higher Young's modulus -- of at least 0.15MPa -- than the one at pH 8. However, films formed at alkaline pH (8 and 11) exhibited a higher deformation than films at pH 2 -- by about 70%. The presence of at least a protein fraction in native state allowed macromolecules to unfold during the mechanical test, reaching greater deformation before breaking. Acidic films exhibited higher water vapor permeability -- of about 7 x 10⁻¹¹ g/m s Pa -- and water content -- of about 1.5% -- and a lower glass transition temperature -- of at least 15 °C -- than basic ones, due to their higher hydrophilic nature.
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