Results of Radical Surgical Treatment of Cholangiocarcinoma

Radical operations of cholangiocarcinomas are connected with the great number of post-operative complications, and lethality reaches 15-30 %. The most debatable questions remain the choice of the operation type depending on localization and spreading of a tumor and also the expedience of using mini-invasive technologies as a preoperational preparation to the radical surgical treatment. We would like to share the little experience of the radical surgical treatment of cholangiocarcinomas.The research aim is to analyze results of radical surgical treatment of patients with cholangiocarcinoma.Matherials and methods. We have analyzed the outcomes of surgical treatment in 18 patients with cholangiocarcinomas. Tumor localization was determined according to the Bismuth-Corlett classification. Type 1 tumors were found in 2 (11.1 %), type 2 in 4 (22.2 %), type 3А in 5 (27.8 %), type 3B in 4 (22.2 %), type 4 in 1 (5.6 %), and distal localization in 2 (11.1 %) patients. As biliary decompression, 9 (50 %) patients underwent percutaneous transhepatic biliary duct drainage (PTBD), and another 9 (50 %) patients were operated without preoperative biliary decompression Pre-operative embolization of portal vein branches with the aim to increase the low volume of liver after anticipated resection was performed in 4 (22.2 %) patients.Results. After the embolization of portal vein branches, the estimated residual volume of hepatic parenchyma increased from 33.4 % to 45.7 %. Patients with cholagiocarcinomas of different localization performed the radical operations: isolated hepaticocholedochus resection in 5 (27.8 %) patients, hepaticocholedochus resection combined with Taj Mahal hepatic resection in 1 (5.6 %), right hemihepatectomy in 5 (27.8 %), left hemihepatectomy in 4 (22.2 %), extended right hemihepatectomy in 1 (5.6 %), and pancreoduodenal resection in 2 (11.1 %) patients. Complications of radical surgeries were observed in 4 (22.2 %) patients. Lethal outcomes occurred in 3 (16.7 %) patients.Conclusions. Radical operations are attended with complications in 22,2 % and lethality in 16,7 %. As a preoperative preparation it is possible to use mini-invasive interventions for the biliary decompression and increase of hepatic parenchyma volume

Computability and analysis: the legacy of Alan Turing

We discuss the legacy of Alan Turing and his impact on computability and analysis.Comment: 49 page

Exploring Social Exchange Theory Dynamics in Native American Casino Settings

The proliferation of Native American casino (NAC) gambling over the past few decades has generated a concern over the social, economic, and environmental impacts. This study examined the local resident perceptions of casino gambling impacts and their subsequent support for the NACs within the Social Exchange Theory (SET) framework. It further applied a similar framework to the non-NAC settings. While majority of the impact constructs failed to generate support for the NACs in the presence of intervening variables, a significant application of SET appeared among the non-NAC communities. Benefits were found to be significant for facilitating higher levels of support for the nonNACs. Overall, the results indicated that SET is not a universal phenomena and nature of casino ownership is more likely to influence residents\u27 level of support

"Rotterdam econometrics": publications of the econometric institute 1956-2005

This paper contains a list of all publications over the period 1956-2005, as reported in the Rotterdam Econometric Institute Reprint series during 1957-2005.

Continuous maintenance and the future – Foundations and technological challenges

High value and long life products require continuous maintenance throughout their life cycle to achieve required performance with optimum through-life cost. This paper presents foundations and technologies required to offer the maintenance service. Component and system level degradation science, assessment and modelling along with life cycle ‘big data’ analytics are the two most important knowledge and skill base required for the continuous maintenance. Advanced computing and visualisation technologies will improve efficiency of the maintenance and reduce through-life cost of the product. Future of continuous maintenance within the Industry 4.0 context also identifies the role of IoT, standards and cyber security

Towards Machine Wald

The past century has seen a steady increase in the need of estimating and predicting complex systems and making (possibly critical) decisions with limited information. Although computers have made possible the numerical evaluation of sophisticated statistical models, these models are still designed \emph{by humans} because there is currently no known recipe or algorithm for dividing the design of a statistical model into a sequence of arithmetic operations. Indeed enabling computers to \emph{think} as \emph{humans} have the ability to do when faced with uncertainty is challenging in several major ways: (1) Finding optimal statistical models remains to be formulated as a well posed problem when information on the system of interest is incomplete and comes in the form of a complex combination of sample data, partial knowledge of constitutive relations and a limited description of the distribution of input random variables. (2) The space of admissible scenarios along with the space of relevant information, assumptions, and/or beliefs, tend to be infinite dimensional, whereas calculus on a computer is necessarily discrete and finite. With this purpose, this paper explores the foundations of a rigorous framework for the scientific computation of optimal statistical estimators/models and reviews their connections with Decision Theory, Machine Learning, Bayesian Inference, Stochastic Optimization, Robust Optimization, Optimal Uncertainty Quantification and Information Based Complexity.Comment: 37 page