University Clean Room Management Program

Implementation of a computerized clean room monitoring system at the RIT facility and the benefits of the RIT Management Program are discussed in this paper. Clean room parameters of interest with respect to environment, contamination, and process control were identified and the management of a commercial and university clean room will be contrasted

Testing for allergic disease: Parameters considered and test value

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Test results for allergic disease are especially valuable to allergists and family physicians for clinical evaluation, decisions to treat, and to determine needs for referral.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study used a repeated measures design (conjoint analysis) to examine trade offs among clinical parameters that influence the decision of family physicians to use specific IgE blood testing as a diagnostic aid for patients suspected of having allergic rhinitis. Data were extracted from a random sample of 50 family physicians in the Southeastern United States. Physicians evaluated 11 patient profiles containing four clinical parameters: symptom severity (low, medium, high), symptom length (5, 10, 20 years), family history (both parents, mother, neither), and medication use (prescribed antihistamines, nasal spray, over-the-counter medications). Decision to recommend specific IgE testing was elicited as a "yes" or "no" response. Perceived value of specific IgE blood testing was evaluated according to usefulness as a diagnostic tool compared to skin testing, and not testing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The highest odds ratios (OR) associated with decisions to test for allergic rhinitis were obtained for symptom severity (OR, 12.11; 95%CI, 7.1–20.7) and length of symptoms (OR, 1.46; 95%CI, 0.96–2.2) with family history having significant influence in the decision. A moderately positive association between testing issues and testing value was revealed (β = 0.624, <it>t </it>= 5.296, <it>p </it>≤ 0.001) with 39% of the variance explained by the regression model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The most important parameters considered when testing for allergic rhinitis relate to symptom severity, length of symptoms, and family history. Family physicians recognize that specific IgE blood testing is valuable to their practice.</p

How university’s activities support the development of students’ entrepreneurial abilities: case of Slovenia and Croatia

The paper reports how the offered university activities support the development of students’ entrepreneurship abilities. Data were collected from 306 students from Slovenian and 609 students from Croatian universities. The study reduces the gap between theoretical researches about the academic entrepreneurship education and individual empirical studies about the student’s estimation of the offered academic activities for development of their entrepreneurial abilities. The empirical research revealed differences in Slovenian and Croatian students’ perception about (a) needed academic activities and (b) significance of the offered university activities, for the development of their entrepreneurial abilities. Additionally, the results reveal that the impact of students’ gender and study level on their perception about the importance of the offered academic activities is not significant for most of the considered activities. The main practical implication is focused on further improvement of universities’ entrepreneurship education programs through selection and utilization of activities which can fill in the recognized gaps between the students’ needed and the offered academic activities for the development of students’ entrepreneurial abilities

"A factory for a future": Iveruno new school

Here, school is intended as a relational space open to the territory and designed to host public activities accessible to the entire urban community. The new school of Inveruno is, in this sense, the new civic center of the city, a representative building and a place of cultural integration. The school is designed to offer flexible and permeable spaces where innovative education becomes the key principle to provide students with adequate skills. Therefore, the school offers in equal measure individual spaces for education and study, spaces for exploration where students may experiment and as a group practice the skills they have acquired, and group spaces where they may present and discuss the results of their work with the school and city community. Just as important are the open space between the buildings and the central square designed to host open-air events that involve the entire school community

Comparison of CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil) with a rotational crossing and a sequential intensification regimen in advanced breast cancer: a prospective randomized study

The Italian Oncology Group for Clinical Research tested two experimental chemotherapy strategies in an attempt to improve the results achievable with conventional chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer. One hundred sixty-two patients were randomly allocated as follows: (a) to the conventional cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy regimen (CMF); (b) to a rotational crossing program (ROT-CROSS); or (c) to a sequential intensification program (SEQ-INT). The same single agents (C, M, F, cisplatin, etoposide, and doxorubicin) were administered in both experimental arms, but following a different policy. The SEQ-INT program induced a significantly higher complete response (32% vs. 6%, p = 0.0006) and objective response rate (72% vs. 42%, p = 0.0047) than CMF did. There were no differences in survival between CMF and either experimental arm. A number of side effects were significantly more with both experimental chemotherapies than with CMF, but the treatments were generally tolerable. Although some caution is required when interpreting a significant advantage found between an entire chemotherapeutic strategy and a single conventional combination, this study documents the potential therapeutic advantage of administering different sequential chemotherapies, and changing each at the time of maximum result without waiting for a progression. The impressive cytoreductive effects achievable with this policy (SEQ-INT) in metastatic disease merit further investigation in the adjuvant setting

A double blind randomized study of oral clodronate in the treatment of bone metastases from tumors poorly responsive to chemotherapy.

Bisphosphonates are used in oncology as a means of decreasing complications due to bone metastases, in association with anticancer treatment, especially in patients with breast cancer, prostate cancer and myeloma. Little is known about the effects of bisphosphonates on bone metastases from other tumors and in particular from tumors for which no effective treatment is available. We conducted a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral clodronate in patients with bone metastases from tumors poorly responsive to chemotherapy, with the aims of evaluating the effects of this drug on symptoms control and bone metastases evolution. Sixty-six patients with poorly responsive tumors such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), bladder cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, kidney cancer, melanoma and metastatic carcinoma of unknown origin entered the study. Patients were randomized to receive either clodronate 1,600 mg/day for one year or identical placebo-containing tablets. Various parameters such as Karnofsky performance status, pain score (measured by a visual-analogue scale) and analgesic requirement were recorded at monthly intervals. Of the 66 patients enrolled, 9 were observed for one month or less; 7 were followed for two months; only 50 patients were followed for more than 2 months and could be adequately evaluated. At 3 months both clodronate and placebo-treated patients had a decrease in Karnofsky performance status, with the decrease being more evident in the placebo group. Mean pain scores showed an increase of pain in patients receiving placebo and a decrease of pain in patients receiving clodronate, although the difference failed to be statistically significant. Analgesics requirement increased in both groups, but significantly more in patients receiving placebo (p = 0.042), in whom increase in opioid requirements was particularly evident. Toxicity was low, with occasional gastroenteric discomfort in both groups. The main problem of this study was the difficulty in recruiting an adequate number of patients and following them for a sufficient period of time: general conditions rapidly deteriorated in many patients, and approximately 25% of the 66 enrolled were not considered evaluable; few patients survived for the length of the study, one year. This might partly account for the lack of significance of some of the parameters under study. With these limits, oral clodronate demonstrated some efficacy in symptom control and in reducing the need for analgesics