Fault-tolerant hardware acceleration for high-performance edge-computing nodes

High-performance embedded systems with powerful processors, specialized hardware accelerators, and advanced software techniques are all key technologies driving the growth of the IoT. By combining hardware and software techniques, it is possible to increase the overall reliability and safety of these systems by designing embedded architectures that can continue to function correctly in the event of a failure or malfunction. In this work, we fully investigate the integration of a configurable hardware vector acceleration unit in the fault-tolerant RISC-V Klessydra-fT03 soft core, introducing two different redundant vector co-processors coupled with the Interleaved-Multi-Threading paradigm on which the microprocessor is based. We then illustrate the pros and cons of both approaches, comparing their impacts on performance and hardware utilization with their vulnerability, presenting a quantitative large-fault-injection simulation analysis on typical vector computing benchmarks, and comparing and classifying the obtained results. The results demonstrate, under specific conditions, that it is possible to add a hardware co-processor to a fault-tolerant microprocessor, improving performance without degrading safety and reliability

Systematic aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy versus resection of bulky nodes only in optimally debulked advanced ovarian cancer: A randomized clinical trial

The role of systematic aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy in patients with optimally debulked advanced ovarian cancer is unclear and has not been addressed by randomized studies. We conducted a randomized clinical trial to determine whether systematic aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy improves progression-free and overall survival compared with resection of bulky nodes only. Methods: From January 1991 through May 2003, 427 eligible patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIB-C and IV epithelial ovarian carcinoma were randomly assigned to undergo systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy (n = 216) or resection of bulky nodes only (n = 211). Progression-free survival and overall survival were analyzed using a logrank statistic and a Cox multivariable regression analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: After a median followup of 68.4 months, 292 events (i.e., recurrences or deaths) were observed, and 202 patients had died. Sites of first recurrences were similar in both arms. The adjusted risk for first event was statistically significantly lower in the systematic lymphadenectomy arm (hazard ratio [HR] =.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59 to 0.94; P =.01) than in the no-lymphadenectomy arm, corresponding to 5-year progression-free survival rates of 31.2 and 21.6% in the systematic lymphadenectomy and control arms, respectively (difference = 9.6%, 95% CI = 1.5% to 21.6%), and to median progression-free survival of 29.4 and 22.4 months, respectively (difference = 7 months, 95% CI = 1.0 to 14.4 months). The risk of death was similar in both arms (HR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.74 to 1.29; P =.85), corresponding to 5-year overall survival rates of 48.5 and 47%, respectively (difference = 1.5%, 95% CI = -8.4% to 10.6%), and to median overall survival of 58.7 and 56.3 months, respectively (difference = 2.4 months, 95% CI = -11.8 to 21.0 months). Median operating time was longer, and the percentage of patients requiring blood transfusions was higher in the systematic lymphadenectomy arm than in the no-lymphadenectomy arm (300 versus 210 minutes, P <.001, and 72% versus 59%; P =.006, respectively). Conclusion: Systematic lymphadenectomy improves progression-free but not overall survival in women with optimally debulked advanced ovarian carcinoma

Impact of covid-19 in gynecologic oncology: A nationwide italian survey of the sigo and mito groups

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused rapid and drastic changes in cancer management. The Italian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SIGO), and the Multicenter Italian Trials in Ovarian cancer and gynecologic malignancies (MITO) promoted a national survey aiming to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on clinical activity of gynecologist oncologists and to assess the implementation of containment measures against COVID-19 diffusion. Methods: The survey consisted of a self-administered, anonymous, online questionnaire. The survey was sent via email to all the members of the SIGO, and MITO groups on April 7, 2020, and was closed on April 20, 2020. Results: Overall, 604 participants completed the questionnaire with a response-rate of 70%. The results of this survey suggest that gynecologic oncology units had set a proactive approach to COVID-19 outbreak. Triage methods were adopted in order to minimize in-hospital diffusion of COVID-19. Only 38% of gynecologic surgeons were concerned about COVID-19 outbreak. Although 73% of the participants stated that COVID-19 has not significantly modified their everyday practice, 21% declared a decrease of the use of laparoscopy in favor of open surgery (19%). However, less than 50% of surgeons adopted specific protection against COVID-19. Additionally, responders suggested to delay cancer treatment (10%–15%), and to perform less radical surgical procedures (20%–25%) during COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: National guidelines should be implemented to further promote the safety of patients and health care providers. International cooperation is of paramount importance, as heavily affected nations can serve as an example to find out ways to safely preserve clinical activity during the COVID-19 outbreak

Randomised study of systematic lymphadenectomy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer macroscopically confined to the pelvis

No randomised trials have addressed the value of systematic aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy (SL) in ovarian cancer macroscopically confined to the pelvis. This study was conducted to investigate the role of SL compared with lymph nodes sampling (CONTROL) in the management of early stage ovarian cancer. A total of 268 eligible patients with macroscopically intrapelvic ovarian carcinoma were randomised to SL (N=138) or CONTROL (N=130). The primary objective was to compare the proportion of patients with retroperitoneal nodal involvement between the two groups. Median operating time was longer and more patients required blood transfusions in the SL arm than the CONTROL arm (240 vs 150 min, P<0.001, and 36 vs 22%, P=0.012, respectively). More patients in the SL group had positive nodes at histologic examination than patients on CONTROL (9 vs 22%, P=0.007). Postoperative chemotherapy was delivered in 66% and 51% of patients with negative nodes on CONTROL and SL, respectively (P=0.03). At a median follow-up of 87.8 months, the adjusted risks for progression (hazard ratio [HR]=0.72, 95%CI=0.46–1.21, P=0.16) and death (HR=0.85, 95%CI=0.49–1.47, P=0.56) were lower, but not statistically significant, in the SL than the CONTROL arm. Five-year progression-free survival was 71.3 and 78.3% (difference=7.0%, 95% CI=–3.4–14.3%) and 5-year overall survival was 81.3 and 84.2% (difference=2.9%, 95% CI=−7.0–9.2%) respectively for CONTROL and SL. SL detects a higher proportion of patients with metastatic lymph nodes. This trial may have lacked power to exclude clinically important effects of SL on progression free and overall survival

WAP four-disulfide core domain protein 2 promotes metastasis of human ovarian cancer by regulation of metastasis-associated genes.

BACKGROUND: WAP four-disulfide core domain protein 2 (WFDC2) shows a tumor-restricted upregulated pattern of expression in ovarian cancer. METHODS: In this study, we evaluated the role of WFCD2 in tumor mobility, invasion and metastasis of ovarian cancer in clinical tissue and in ovarian cancer cells, both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: Our results revealed WFCD2 was overexpressed in ovarian tissues, and the expression level of WFCD2 was associated with metastasis and lymph node metastasis. Higher expression of WFCD2 was also observed in aggressive HO8910-PM cells than in HO8910 cells, and WFCD2 knockdown halted cell migration, invasion, tumorigenicity and metastasis in ovarian cancer cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of WFDC2 induced the down-regulation of ICAM-1, CD44, and MMP2. CONCLUSION: In summary, our work demonstrates that WFCD2 promotes metastasis in ovarian cancer. These findings suggest that WFCD2 plays a critical role in promoting metastasis and may constitute a potential therapeutic target of ovarian cancer

10 The adoption of sentinel node mapping with or without backup lymphadenectomy in endometrial cancer

n/

Haemostatics in surgery and our experience in the enucleoresection of renal cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>30 patients, with T1 renal cell carcinomas (RCC) who underwent open enucleoresection of the tumour, were randomized to the use of a topical haemostatic agent (Floseal) or to an infrared-sapphire coagulator (ISC), to compare their efficacy in achieving haemostasis. Methods: Successful intra-operative haemostasis, intra- and post-operative bleeding, operative time, hospital discharge were evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Statistically higher rates of successful haemostasis and shorter time-to-haemostasis (8,1 vs 12,9 min) were observed in the FloSeal group (p < 0.001 both). Patients operative time was not different between Group 1 vs 2 (58.7 ± 12 vs 62.4 ± 15; p > 0.05). The average blood loss during surgery was less (60 +/- 25.5 mL) for the FloSeal group than for the ISC group (85 +/- 40.5 mL) (p < 0.05). Postoperative blood loss was 25 +/- 5 mL and 40 +/- 45 mL for Floseal and ISC respectively, (p < 0.05). Length of the postoperative hospital discharge was 2.5 +/- 1.2 days for FloSeal group and 3.5 +/- 1.3 for the Group 2 (p < 0.05). No major immediate or delayed complications were observed in either Groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The use of Floseal and ISC offer a safe and efficacy haemostasis in the enucleoresection of RCC. Moreover, our results show a less intra-operative and post-operative blood loss as well as a shorter time to haemostasis of Floseal in respect to ISC.</p

Risk Factors Associated with Adverse Fetal Outcomes in Pregnancies Affected by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Secondary Analysis of the WAPM study on COVID-19

To evaluate the strength of association between maternal and pregnancy characteristics and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Secondary analysis of a multinational, cohort study on all consecutive pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020 from 73 centers from 22 different countries. A confirmed case of COVID-19 was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite adverse fetal outcome, defined as the presence of either abortion (pregnancy loss before 22 weeks of gestations), stillbirth (intrauterine fetal death after 22 weeks of gestation), neonatal death (death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), and perinatal death (either stillbirth or neonatal death). Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate parameters independently associated with the primary outcome. Logistic regression was reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 30.6\ub19.5 weeks, with 8.0% of women being diagnosed in the first, 22.2% in the second and 69.8% in the third trimester of pregnancy. There were six miscarriage (2.3%), six intrauterine device (IUD) (2.3) and 5 (2.0%) neonatal deaths, with an overall rate of perinatal death of 4.2% (11/265), thus resulting into 17 cases experiencing and 226 not experiencing composite adverse fetal outcome. Neither stillbirths nor neonatal deaths had congenital anomalies found at antenatal or postnatal evaluation. Furthermore, none of the cases experiencing IUD had signs of impending demise at arterial or venous Doppler. Neonatal deaths were all considered as prematurity-related adverse events. Of the 250 live-born neonates, one (0.4%) was found positive at RT-PCR pharyngeal swabs performed after delivery. The mother was tested positive during the third trimester of pregnancy. The newborn was asymptomatic and had negative RT-PCR test after 14 days of life. At logistic regression analysis, gestational age at diagnosis (OR: 0.85, 95% CI 0.8-0.9 per week increase; p<0.001), birthweight (OR: 1.17, 95% CI 1.09-1.12.7 per 100 g decrease; p=0.012) and maternal ventilatory support, including either need for oxygen or CPAP (OR: 4.12, 95% CI 2.3-7.9; p=0.001) were independently associated with composite adverse fetal outcome. Early gestational age at infection, maternal ventilatory supports and low birthweight are the main determinants of adverse perinatal outcomes in fetuses with maternal COVID-19 infection. Conversely, the risk of vertical transmission seems negligible

Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy in gynecological cancers: a critical review of the literature

Although it does not have a long history of sentinel node evaluation (SLN) in female genital system cancers, there is a growing number of promising study results, despite the presence of some aspects that need to be considered and developed. It has been most commonly used in vulvar and uterine cervivcal cancer in gynecological oncology. According to these studies, almost all of which are prospective, particularly in cases where Technetium-labeled nanocolloid is used, sentinel node detection rate sensitivity and specificity has been reported to be 100%, except for a few cases. In the studies on cervical cancer, sentinel node detection rates have been reported around 80–86%, a little lower than those in vulva cancer, and negative predictive value has been reported about 99%. It is relatively new in endometrial cancer, where its detection rate varies between 50 and 80%. Studies about vulvar melanoma and vaginal cancers are generally case reports. Although it has not been supported with multicenter randomized and controlled studies including larger case series, study results reported by various centers around the world are harmonious and mutually supportive particularly in vulva cancer, and cervix cancer. Even though it does not seem possible to replace the traditional approaches in these two cancers, it is still a serious alternative for the future. We believe that it is important to increase and support the studies that will strengthen the weaknesses of the method, among which there are detection of micrometastases and increasing detection rates, and render it usable in routine clinical practice