In a (t, n) secret sharing scheme (SS), the secret is shared among n shareholders in such a way that (a) with t or more than t shares can recover the secret, and (b) with fewer than t shares cannot obtain the secret. The threshold signature scheme is an application that extends the SS to a digital signature scheme. In a threshold signature scheme, any t or more than t group members can represen...

BACKGROUND In EchoCRT, a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with a QRS duration of <130 ms and echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular dyssynchrony, the primary outcome (death from any cause or first hospitalization for worsening heart failure) occurred more frequently in the CRT-ON when compared with the control group...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to identify subgroups that benefit from preoperative or postoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for rectal cancer of intermediate stage. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between 1999 and 2004, 118 and 177 patients matched with respect to clinical T stage, circumferential tumor extent (= 60% / > 60%), lymph node metastasis, and lymph node size (< 1 cm / ≥ 1 cm), were all...

 The authors' names are placed in alphabetic order. All of them contributed equally to the paper. Abstract The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is a test introduced by S. Frederick (2005) Cognitive reflection and decision making, J Econ Perspect 19(4): 25-42. The task is designed to measure the tendency to override an intuitive response that is incorrect and to engage in further reflection that...

AIMS The Secura ICD and Consulta CRT-D are the first defibrillators to have automatic right atrial (RA), right ventricular (RV), and left ventricular (LV) capture management (CM). Complete CM was evaluated in an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) population. METHODS AND RESULTS Two prospective clinical studies were conducted in 28 centres in Europe and Israel. Automatic CM data were...

AIMS The choice of resynchronization therapy between with (CRT-D) and without (CRT-P) a defibrillator remains a contentious issue. Cause-of-death analysis among CRT-P, compared with CRT-D, patients could help evaluate the extent to which CRT-P patients would have additionally benefited from a defibrillator in a daily clinical practice. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 1705 consecutive patients ...

OBJECTIVE In this study, locally advanced bladder cancer was treated by radiation combined with cisplatin therapy and a retrospective analysis was conducted to predict the clinical response to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) based on the immunohistochemistry of apoptosis-related proteins. METHODS Sixty-two patients (median age, 68 years; range, 45-89 years) with transitional cell carcinoma of the bla...

BACKGROUND Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) decreases mortality, improves functional status, and induces reverse left ventricular remodeling in selected populations with heart failure. We aimed to assess the impact of baseline QRS duration and morphology and the change in QRS duration with pacing on CRT outcomes in mild heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Resynchronization Reverses Remo...

BACKGROUND Current guidelines recommend cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in mild heart failure (HF) patients with QRS prolongation and ejection fraction (EF) ≤30%. To assess the effect of CRT in less severe systolic dysfunction, outcomes in the REsynchronization reVErses Remodeling in Systolic left vEntricular dysfunction (REVERSE) study were evaluated in which patients with left ventric...