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Differing surgical series for the treatment of primary lung tumor with synchronous oligometastatic stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been published; however, outcomes remain ambiguous. Patients with synchronous oligometastatic stage IV NSCLC treated from 2005 to 2017 were enrolled to identify the impact of treatment sequence (primary lung resection vs systemic treatment) on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Tumor resection occurred in 51 patients (84% adenocarcinoma, 55% nonsmokers, and 65% driver gene mutation) before or after systemic treatment in 33 (64.7%) and 18 (35.3%) patients, respectively. Patients who received resection first were older (62.1 vs 54 years) and at a less advanced intrathoracic stage (18% vs 44%). No significant differences were noted regarding perioperative complications (30% vs 28%), hospital length of stay (9.0 vs 10.5 days), percentage of disease progression (91% vs 94%), overall death (70% vs 78%), median PFS (14.0 vs 22.8 months), and OS (44.6 vs 53.2 months). Patients with single-organ metastasis had significantly longer PFS and OS than those with oligometastases (17.5 vs 12.8 months, P =.040; and 55.6 vs 39.8 months, P =.035), respectively. Multivariable Cox analysis identified nonsolitary metastasis as the only independent predictor of PFS (hazard ratio, 2.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-4.81; P =.033). Primary lung resection before or after induction systemic therapy may benefit patients with oligometastatic NSCLC. Future randomized clinical trials examining the effect of treatment sequence is recommended. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The corporate credit rating forecasting process is designed based on big data from social media. • The techniques for corporate credit rating forecasting are developed. • The implementation, demonstration and evaluation of the proposed approach is conducted. Corporate credit ratings are comprehensive indicators of a company's management performance, earnings quality, and future prospects; they represent its market evaluation and status in the industry and are relevant to the financing and investment decision-making process. Financial institutions determine corporate credit ratings using corporate financial and governance indicators. With advancements in the Internet and the popularity of social media, the appeal of enterprises on social media has become a relevant research topic. Social media represents an alternative method for financial institutions to determine corporate credit ratings. Therefore, the large amounts of data from social media have been used to effectively analyze and predict corporate credit ratings in risk management departments of financial institutions in the field of financial technology (FinTech). This study develops an approach to forecasting corporate credit ratings by analyzing public opinion toward corporations on social media to assist financial institutions in effectively evaluating and controlling corporate risk. This objective is achieved through the following steps: (i) designing a corporate credit rating forecasting process based on big data from social media, (ii) developing techniques for corporate credit rating forecasting, and (iii) implementing and evaluating the corporate credit rating forecasting mechanism. The experimental results of this research show that the accuracy of corporate credit rating prediction based on social media big data is higher than that of traditional financial report, corporate governance and macroeconomic indicators. Moreover, the adopted forecasting model, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), is superior to the other machine learning models in terms of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain is one of the major stressors for critically ill patients. The first step for effective pain management is pain assessment. Due to the availability of physiologic monitoring devices in intensive care units, observing changes in vital signs provides a fast, simple, and objective method. However, the validity of physiologic indicators in pain assessment is still debatable. The aim of this study was to validate the discriminant and criterion validity of physiologic indicators for pain assessment in nonverbal patients. The study included 120 patients from the intensive care unit of a medical center of Taiwan. Patients were observed under two nursing procedures to examine the discriminant validity of physiologic indicators: 1) a nociceptive procedure: suctioning; 2) a non-nociceptive procedure: taking noninvasive blood pressure. Forty-four consciously ventilated patients were also asked to provide self-reported pain intensity. Discriminant validity was supported with higher heart rate and blood pressure during suctioning than the values before and after suctioning. Moreover, the heart rate and blood pressure during suctioning were significantly higher than the values during noninvasive blood pressure measurement. In terms of criterion-related validity, there was no significant correlation between patient's self-report of pain intensity and heart rate and blood pressure. As recommended by other scholars and researchers, heart rate and blood pressure can only be used as a cue for pain assessment. If pain is suspected, further appropriate assessment is necessary to provide accurate judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With continued growth of the service-oriented knowledge economy, knowledge-intensive service industries (KISI) have become a trend nowadays for industrial development. Enterprise activities in knowledge-intensive service industries are highly creative. When performing and achieving each activity, the domain professional knowledge and experiences, which involve various ideas, such as service innovation or service value-added, are employed. Therefore, effective knowledge management must be achieved to rapidly accumulate knowledge assets of enterprise and increase the efficiency of knowledge-intensive service industries. A professional virtual community is an interactive platform that allows enterprise experts to create and share empirical knowledge in knowledge-intensive service industries. A high volume of useless information and empirical knowledge is typically generated during expert discussions. Therefore, managing and sharing useful contents of knowledge discussion have become important issues for empirical knowledge management in a professional virtual community. This work presents a systematic approach to develop a framework for managing empirical knowledge to support a professional virtual community in knowledge-intensive service industries. The approach presented in this study comprises three phases: (i) proposing an empirical knowledge management model for a professional virtual community, (ii) designing an empirical knowledge management system framework for a professional virtual community, and (iii) implementing an empirical knowledge management system prototype for a professional virtual community. Study results facilitate efforts within the professional virtual community to extract, verify, store, and share empirical knowledge to assist knowledge-intensive service industries in enhancing service innovation abilities and creating the best services for customers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the globalization of commercial practices and advances in information and communication technologies, increasing numbers of enterprises and workers are establishing cross-functional, geographically distributed virtual project teams (VPTs) to maximize competitive advantage from limited labor and resources. One of the major challenges for workers in VPT is developing trust. Trust is a particularly crucial issue for VPT success because numerous project tasks are interdependent, making team members reliant on the functional expertise of their partners. The challenge to develop trust is particularly complex because trust should consider various factors into different assessments made during different phases of a VPT. This study first introduces a previously proposed trust evaluation model for evaluating trust over the lifecycle of VPTs. The original method, which comprises a method for evaluating trust between two VPT workers and a method for evaluating worker reliability, in which direct, indirect and negative trust relationships are considered in calculating trust between workers. This study aims to improve this method and then design an advanced multi-phase trust evaluation model, which comprises calculus-based, contribution-based and affective-based trust evaluation sub-models for evaluating trust during three different VPT phases (early, middle and late project phases). The advanced multi-phase trust evaluation model is a more appropriate means of assessing degree of trust among coworkers than the original model. Therefore, using the three sub-models during different project phases can assist VPT workers in making more accurate decisions regarding secure resource sharing with other coworkers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Compared with relying on the efforts of various enterprises collaborating on product lifecycle activities, such as coordination, communication and control, the ability to effectively share product information and knowledge is more important. Therefore, how to best integrate such heterogeneous product knowledge distributed among various cooperating enterprises has become an extremely important knowledge management subjects associated with collaborative product lifecycle. This study develops a novel mechanism for integrating ontology-based product lifecycle knowledge to effectively integrate the heterogeneous product knowledge distributed among different enterprises during a product’s lifecycle, thereby facilitating sharing of this product knowledge. This study: (i) designed an integration and sharing process for collaborative product lifecycle knowledge, (ii) developed techniques associated with integration of ontology-based product lifecycle knowledge, and (iii) implemented an integration and sharing mechanism for ontology-based product lifecycle knowledge. In developing techniques associated with integration of ontology-based product lifecycle knowledge, which involves establishing a product lifecycle ontology, designing local ontology schema, designing an integration algorithm for ontology-based product lifecycle knowledge, and designing a searching method for ontology-based product lifecycle knowledge. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Purpose: Our aim here was to determine whether or not the addition of cisplatin into vinorelbine (V) treatment is an appropriate regimen for physically fit chemo-naïve non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients aged 70 or older. Patients and methods: Patients were randomized into vinorelbine (V) or vinorelbine plus cisplatin (VP) treatment arms. Treatment consisted of vinorelbine 25mg/m2 intravenous infusion (IV) on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks (V arm), or vinorelbine 22.5mg/m2 IV on days 1 and 8 plus cisplatin 50mg/m2 IV on day 1 every 3 weeks (VP arm). Results: Sixty-five patients were enrolled from May 2005 to December 2006, including 31 who received V treatment and 34 who received VP treatment. Objective response rates were 16.1% in V and 32.4% in VP (p =0.009). Control rates were 51.6% in V and 82.4% in VP (p =0.008). Myelosuppression was more common and severe in the VP arm. Any grade of anemia and neutropenia was significantly higher in the VP arm (p =0.001 and 0.009, respectively). Fatigue sensation was more common and severe in the VP arm (p =0.032). Median time to disease progression was 3.1 months in the V arm and 5.2 months in the VP arm (p =0.0303). The 1-year survival rate was 50.9% in the V arm and 47.2% in the VP arm. Conclusions: Adding cisplatin to vinorelbine treatment is feasible in elderly patients, and has a better response rate and longer median time to disease progression. However, both statistically significantly higher toxicity and no survival advantage for the combination treatment was observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Purpose: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of adding UFUR (UFT, tegafur/uracil) into weekly docetaxel treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who failed previous platinum-based chemotherapy. Methods: Patients were randomized into two arms: docetaxel 40mg/m2 intravenous infusion (IV) on days 1 and 8 of every 3 weeks (arm D), and docetaxel 35mg/m2 IV on days 1 and 8 plus daily oral UFUR 150mg/m2 of every 3 weeks (arm DU), with arm D as a control arm. Treatment was given to a maximum of 6 cycles and carried out in the outpatient clinic. Results: From January 2005 to March 2006, 48 patients were enrolled and randomized into the study, with 24 patients in each arm. The mean number of cycles of treatment was 4 in the D arm and 3.5 in the DU arm. Objective response rates were 29.2% in the D arm and 8.3% in the DU arm (p =0.067). Toxicities were few and mild in degree in both arms. Median time to disease progression was 4.5 months in the D arm and 2.1 months in the DU arm (p =0.4682). Median survival time was 10.9 months in the D arm and 15.2 months in the DU arm (p =0.8442). Conclusions: The addition of UFUR to weekly docetaxel treatment did not improve response rate and time to disease progression in NSCLC patients who failed previous platinum-based chemotherapy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Cisplatin plus a third-generation anti-cancer drug, such as vinorelbine, gemcitabine, or the taxanes, are the standard regimen used in the first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and there is no significant difference in efficacy among the different regimens. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of docetaxel plus cisplatin (DC) versus vinorelbine plus cisplatin (VC) in chemo-naïve NSCLC patients. From December 2003 to May 2005, 94 patients were enrolled. The treatment dose was D 60mg/m2 and C 60mg/m2 intravenous infusion (IV) on day 1, or V 25mg/m2 IV on days 1 and 8, and C 60mg/m2 IV on day 1, every 3 weeks. In all, 209 cycles of DC and 230 cycles of VC were given to the patients in the DC (median five cycles) and VC (median five cycles) arms, respectively. There were 19 partial responses and one complete response (overall 43.5%) in the DC arm, and no complete responses, but 22 partial responses (overall 45.8%), in the VC arm. Myelosuppression was the major toxicity occurring in both arms, with grades 3 or 4 neutropenia occurring in 72.9% and 71.7% of patients, respectively. Except for alopecia (p =0.005) and diarrhea (p <0.001), which were more common in the DC arm, no significant differences in toxicity profiles were found between the two treatment arms. The median time to disease progression was 4.7 months in the DC arm and 6.3 months in the VC arm (p =0.7355). Median survival time was 13 months in the DC arm and 13.8 months in the VC arm (p =0.9656). The 1-year survival rate was 55.5% and 51.7%, respectively. After treatment, the Lung Cancer Symptom Scales showed no significant difference between the two treatment arms. We concluded that both DC and VC are appropriate regimens for use in the first-line treatment of Chinese NSCLC patients. Asthenia, one of the major side effects of docetaxel, was not a major problem in the present study. Although both regimens produced a high incidence of severe neutropenia, the majority of patients recovered rapidly without sequelae; and VC treatment is still a standard chemotherapy for Chinese NSCLC patients in Taiwan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Background: Intravenous vinorelbine plus cisplatin is widely prescribed for the treatment of NSCLC. The objective of this phase II study was to define the efficacy of an oral form of vinorelbine combined with cisplatin for first line treatment of advanced/metastatic NSCLC. Patients and methods: From September 2002 to December 2003, 46 chemotherapy-naive patients received 80mg/m2 of cisplatin on day 1 and oral vinorelbine at 60mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks. Results: After an independent panel review, the response rate was 37.5 % [95% confidence interval (CI): 22.7–54.2%] in the evaluable population and 32.6% [95% CI: 19.5–48] in the intent-to-treat population. Median progression-free survival was 5.6 months and overall survival was 11.2 months. Grades 3 and 4 neutropenia was observed in 58.7% of patients, with febrile neutropenia and neutropenic infection in 4.3 and 8.7% of patients, respectively. The main non-haematological toxicities were hypotension, fatigue (8.7% for each) and gastrointestinal disorders with rare grades 3 and 4. Conclusions: These results suggest that the combination of cisplatin at 80mg/m2 on day 1 with oral vinorelbine at 60mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks, is an active regimen, associated with acceptable toxicity. Oral vinorelbine is therefore a good alternative to the i.v. formulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]