Evaluation of Thromboembolism Risk in Patients with Cancer; Single Center Real-life Data

Introduction:Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in cancer patients. Both cancer itself and its treatment have been reported to result in an increased risk of VTE. Several scoring systems have been developed to predict cancer-associated VTE risk. The aim of this study was to prospectively test the validity of the Khorana thrombosis score in predicting the risk of VTE development in cancer outpatients at a single centre.Methods:One hundred and fifty-two consecutive patients diagnosed with cancer and scheduled to receive outpatient chemotherapy at University of Health Sciences Turkey, İstanbul Training and Research Hospital between August 2012 and August 2013 were included in the study. Khorana risk scores were calculated for each patient at study entry. Patients were then followed up for at least 24 months after diagnosis or until VTE developed.Results:Thrombosis was detected in 13 of the 152 patients following cancer diagnosis. The median time from diagnosis to thrombosis was 4 months (1-48 months). Thrombosis was of venous and arterial origin in 7 and 6 patients, respectively. The Khorana score failed to differentiate high-risk patients. Scores in patients with and without venous thrombosis were not statistically different (p=0.38).Conclusion:It is important to identify cancer patients at high risk for VTE to decrease the thrombosis-associated dismal outcome. However, in an outpatient setting, the Khorana score failed to differentiate the target population. This could be partly explained by the heterogeneity and the relatively small number of patients included

A rare benign disorder mimicking metastasis on radiographic examination: a case report of osteopoikilosis

Osteopoikilosis (OPK) is a rare, autosomal dominant bone disorder, characterized by multiple, discrete round or ovoid radio densities scattered throughout the axial and appendicular skeleton. OPK is usually asymptomatic but rarely there may be slight articular pain and joint effusions. OPK is generally diagnosed incidentally on radiographic examinations and may mimic different bone pathologies, including bone metastases. Radionuclide bone scan has a critical role in distinguishing OPK from osteoblastic bone metastases. In this case report, we present a young man with right hip pain due to OPK, whose plain radiogram and computerized tomography findings thought cancer metastasis

De facto exchange rate regime classifications: an evaluation

There exist several statistically-based exchange rate regime classifications that disagree with one another to a disappointing degree. To what extent is this a matter of the quality of the design of these schemes, and to what extent does it reflect the need to supplement statistics with other information (as is done in the IMF’s de facto classification)? It is shown that statistical methods are good at the basics (distinguishing some type of peg from some type of float), but less helpful in other respects, such as determining whether a float is managed, particularly for countries that are not very remote from their main trading partners. Different measures of exchange rate volatility have been used but are not primarily responsible for differences between classifications. The theoretical underpinning of particular classification schemes needs to be more explicit

Quantifying uncertainty in the measurement of arsenic in suspended particulate matter by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with hydride generator

Arsenic is the toxic element, which creates several problems in human being specially when inhaled through air. So the accurate and precise measurement of arsenic in suspended particulate matter (SPM) is of prime importance as it gives information about the level of toxicity in the environment, and preventive measures could be taken in the effective areas. Quality assurance is equally important in the measurement of arsenic in SPM samples before making any decision. The quality and reliability of the data of such volatile elements depends upon the measurement of uncertainty of each step involved from sampling to analysis. The analytical results quantifying uncertainty gives a measure of the confidence level of the concerned laboratory. So the main objective of this study was to determine arsenic content in SPM samples with uncertainty budget and to find out various potential sources of uncertainty, which affects the results. Keeping these facts, we have selected seven diverse sites of Delhi (National Capital of India) for quantification of arsenic content in SPM samples with uncertainty budget following sampling by HVS to analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer-Hydride Generator (AAS-HG). In the measurement of arsenic in SPM samples so many steps are involved from sampling to final result and we have considered various potential sources of uncertainties. The calculation of uncertainty is based on ISO/IEC17025: 2005 document and EURACHEM guideline. It has been found that the final results mostly depend on the uncertainty in measurement mainly due to repeatability, final volume prepared for analysis, weighing balance and sampling by HVS. After the analysis of data of seven diverse sites of Delhi, it has been concluded that during the period from 31st Jan. 2008 to 7th Feb. 2008 the arsenic concentration varies from 1.44 ± 0.25 to 5.58 ± 0.55 ng/m3 with 95% confidence level (k = 2)

The Role of Graduality for Referring Expression Generation in Visual Scenes

International audienceReferring Expression Generation (reg) algorithms, a core component of systems that generate text from non-linguistic data, seek to identify domain objects using natural language descriptions. While reg has often been applied to visual domains, very few approaches deal with the problem of fuzziness and gradation. This paper discusses these problems and how they can be accommodated to achieve a more realistic view of the task of referring to objects in visual scenes

Relationship between human tumour angiogenic profile and combretastatin-induced vascular shutdown: an exploratory study

Combretastatin-A4-phosphate (CA4P) acts most effectively against immature tumour vasculature. We investigated whether histological angiogenic profile can explain the differential sensitivity of human tumours to CA4P, by correlating the kinetic changes demonstrated by dynamic MRI (DCE-MRI) in response to CA4P, with tumour immunohistochemical angiogenic markers. Tissue was received from 24 patients (mean age 59, range 32–73, 18 women, 6 men). An angiogenic profile was performed using standard immunohistochemical techniques. Dynamic MRI data were obtained for the same patients before and 4 h after CA4P. Three patients showed a statistically significant fall in Ktrans following CA4P, and one a statistically significant fall in IAUGC60. No statistically significant correlations were seen between the continuous or categorical variables and the DCE-MRI kinetic parameters other than between ang-2 and Ktrans (P=0.044). In conclusion, we found no strong relationships between changes in DCE-MRI kinetic variables following CA4P and the immunohistochemical angiogenic profile

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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