INTRODUCTION Low rates of accrual of African-American (AA) patients with cancer to therapeutic clinical trials (CTs) represent a serious and modifiable racial disparity in healthcare that impedes the development of promising cancer therapies. Suboptimal physician-patient consultation communication is a barrier to the accrual of patients with cancer of any race, but communication difficulties ar...

BACKGROUND Disease recurrence is a main challenge in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There is no generally accepted method for preventing recurrence of HCC after resection. OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of a traditional herbal medicine (THM) regimen and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in preventing recurrence in post-resection patients with small HCC. DESIGN, SETTING...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies have used various measures to characterize trihalomethane (THM) exposures, but the relationship of these indicators to exposure biomarkers remains unclear. OBJECTIVES We examined temporal and spatial variability in baseline blood THM concentrations and assessed the relationship between these concentrations and several exposure indicators (tap water concentra...

A fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method with minimum sample preparation is described for early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). The automated procedure is based on the injection of sputum samples which are then methylated inside the GC injector using thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation (THM). The THM-GC-MS procedure was optimized for the injection of sputum samples. ...

This paper describes a new method for predicting trihalomethanes (THMs) presence in networks of water supply systems, using a low-cost device that permits a fast monitoring of concentrations without need of complex analysis made in laboratories. This method, based on statistical models, allows the estimation of THM concentration by monitoring parameters whose determination is direct and easy, a...

BACKGROUND Evidence for a relationship between trihalomethane (THM) or haloacetic acid (HAA) exposure and adverse fetal growth is inconsistent. Disinfection by-products exist as complex mixtures in water supplies, but THMs and HAAs have typically been examined separately. OBJECTIVES We investigated joint exposure at the individual level to THMs and HAAs in relation to birth weight in the mult...

A major challenge for modern steelmaking is the reduction of CO2 emissions. In this regard, blast furnace (BF) process critical due to its high associated This investigation assesses impact tuyere-injected fuels on BF Specifically, CFD results obtained previously at Purdue University Northwest are analyzed obtain emissions when natural gas (NG), syngas, hydrogen or hydrogen/NG injected. compare...

This paper describes a constrained bin-packing •problem (CBPP) and an approximate, anytime algor i thm for solutions. A CBPP is a constrained version of the bin-packing problem, in which a set of items allocated to a bin are ordered in a way to satisfy constraints defined on them and achieve near-optimality. The algor i thm for CBPP uses a heuristic search for labeling edges w i th a binary val...

Trihalomethanes (THMs), a by-product of the chlorination of natural waters containing dissolved organic carbon and bromide, are the focus of considerable public health concern and regulation due to their potential as a carcinogen by ingestion. This paper presents a promising new water treatment process that lowers the concentration of bromide in drinking water and thus, lowers the THM formation...

BACKGROUND Various studies have shown that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) especially diabetes and hypertension are prevalent among older women living in South African urban areas, placing a heavy burden on the healthcare system. This study aimed to understand the health-seeking behaviour, healthcare practices and prevalence of traditional herbal medicine (THM) use among older women self-repor...