Prognostic factors of survival in patients treated with nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine regimen for advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer: A single institutional experience.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine (NAB-P/GEM) regimen in an unselected population of patients with advanced inoperable or metastatic pancreatic cancer (PC), and to identify the prognostic factors influencing overall survival (OS). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Patients with age < 85 years, ECOG-performance status (PS) < 3, and adequate renal, hepatic and hematologic function were eligible. NAB-P (125 mg/m2) and GEM (1000 mg/m2) day 1,8,15 every 4 weeks were employed for 3-6 cycles or until highest response. RESULTS: Overall, 147 cycles (median 4, range 1-11 cycles) were administered on thirty-seven consecutive patients (median 66 years old, range 40-82) treated. The median overall progression-free survival and OS were 6.2 and 9.2 months, respectively. The G 3-4 dose-limiting toxicity were neutropenia (20.7%), severe anemia (17.2%), and cardiovascular toxicity (10.3%). PS, number of cycles, baseline CA 19-9 and LDH serum levels, were found to be significantly related to OS. The multivariate analysis showed that both number of cycles (HR = 9.14, 95% CI 1.84-45.50, p = 0.001) and PS (HR = 13.18, 95% CI 2.73-63.71, p = 0.001) were independently associated with OS. CONCLUSION: NAB-P/GEM regimen should be used in all patients with advanced or metastatic PC, with the exception of those with serious contraindications to chemotherapy, such as severe renal or hepatic impairment or major cardiovascular diseases

The ALTCRISS project on board the International Space Station

The Altcriss project aims to perform a long term survey of the radiation environment on board the International Space Station. Measurements are being performed with active and passive devices in different locations and orientations of the Russian segment of the station. The goal is to perform a detailed evaluation of the differences in particle fluence and nuclear composition due to different shielding material and attitude of the station. The Sileye-3/Alteino detector is used to identify nuclei up to Iron in the energy range above 60 MeV/n. Several passive dosimeters (TLDs, CR39) are also placed in the same location of Sileye-3 detector. Polyethylene shielding is periodically interposed in front of the detectors to evaluate the effectiveness of shielding on the nuclear component of the cosmic radiation. The project was submitted to ESA in reply to the AO in the Life and Physical Science of 2004 and data taking began in December 2005. Dosimeters and data cards are rotated every six months: up to now three launches of dosimeters and data cards have been performed and have been returned with the end of expedition 12 and 13.Comment: Accepted for publication on Advances in Space Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2007.04.03

Launch of the Space experiment PAMELA

PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range protons: 80 MeV-700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV-400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV-190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV-270 GeV) and search for antimatter with a precision of the order of 10^-8). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15, 2006 in a 350*600 km orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees. The detector is composed of a series of scintillator counters arranged at the extremities of a permanent magnet spectrometer to provide charge, Time-of-Flight and rigidity information. Lepton/hadron identification is performed by a Silicon-Tungsten calorimeter and a Neutron detector placed at the bottom of the device. An Anticounter system is used offline to reject false triggers coming from the satellite. In self-trigger mode the Calorimeter, the neutron detector and a shower tail catcher are capable of an independent measure of the lepton component up to 2 TeV. In this work we describe the experiment, its scientific objectives and the performance in the first months after launch.Comment: Accepted for publication on Advances in Space Researc

Challenges of Decentralized, Farmer-Led and Fee-For-Service Extension

Agricultural extension services are crucial for the rapid spread of research results to farmers and for transmitting information about farmers’ needs, circumstances, and problems to researchers. In developing countries, public extension organizations are dominant. These public extension systems are often inadequately funded, have high costs, and their effectiveness is limited by many administrative and design deficiencies and challenges. Chief among these are the large scale and complexity of extension operations, the weak links between extension and research, problems of accountability, weak political commitment and support, weak management systems, severe difficulties of fiscal unsustainability, and difficulties of tracing extension impact. Disenchantment with the traditional, public extension programmes has led to the emergence of other approaches aimed at overcoming some of the weaknesses inherent in the public extension systems. This paper reviews the challenges of decentralized, farmer-led and fee-for-service extension

Challenges of Decentralized, Farmer-Led and Fee-For-Service Extension

Agricultural extension services are crucial for the rapid spread of research results to farmers and for transmitting information about farmers’ needs, circumstances, and problems to researchers. In developing countries, public extension organizations are dominant. These public extension systems are often inadequately funded, have high costs, and their effectiveness is limited by many administrative and design deficiencies and challenges. Chief among these are the large scale and complexity of extension operations, the weak links between extension and research, problems of accountability, weak political commitment and support, weak management systems, severe difficulties of fiscal unsustainability, and difficulties of tracing extension impact. Disenchantment with the traditional, public extension programmes has led to the emergence of other approaches aimed at overcoming some of the weaknesses inherent in the public extension systems. This paper reviews the challenges of decentralized, farmer-led and fee-for-service extension

HLA-G 3&apos;UTR Polymorphisms Impact the Prognosis of Stage II-III CRC Patients in Fluoropyrimidine-Based Treatment

An important hallmark of CRC is the evasion of immune surveillance. HLA-G is a negative regulator of host's immune response. Overexpression of HLA-G protein in primary tumour CRC tissues has already been associated to worse prognosis; however a definition of the role of immunogenetic host background is still lacking. Germline polymorphisms in the 3'UTR region of HLA-G influence the magnitude of the protein by modulating HLA-G mRNA stability. Soluble HLA-G has been associated to 3'UTR +2960 Ins/Ins and +3035 C/T (lower levels) and +3187 G/G (high levels) genotypes. HLA-G 3'UTR SNPs have never been explored in CRC outcome. The purpose of this study was to investigate if common HLA-G 3'UTR polymorphisms have an impact on DFS and OS of 253 stage II-III CRC patients, after primary surgery and ADJ-CT based on FL. The 3'UTR was sequenced and SNPs were analyzed for their association with survival by Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox models; results underwent internal validation using a resampling method (bootstrap analysis). In a multivariate analysis, we estimated an association with improved DFS in Ins allele (Ins/Del +Ins/Ins) carriers (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.38-0.93, P = 0.023) and in patients with +3035 C/T genotype (HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.26-0.99, P = 0.045). The +3187 G/G mutated carriers (G/G vs A/A+A/G) were associated to a worst prognosis in both DFS (HR 2.46, 95% CI 1.19-5.05, P = 0.015) and OS (HR 2.71, 95% CI 1.16-6.63, P = 0.022). Our study shows a prognostic and independent role of 3 HLA-G 3'UTR SNPs, +2960 14-bp INDEL, +3035 C>T, and +3187 A>G

Efficacy of nivolumab in pre-treated non-small-cell lung cancer patients harbouring KRAS mutations

Background: The present study investigated the efficacy and safety of nivolumab in pre-treated patients with advanced NSCLC harbouring KRAS mutations. Methods: Clinical data and KRAS mutational status were analysed in patients treated with nivolumab within the Italian Expanded Access Program. Objective response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival were evaluated. Patients were monitored for adverse events using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. Results: Among 530 patients evaluated for KRAS mutations, 206 (39%) were positive while 324 (61%) were KRAS wild-type mutations. KRAS status did not influence nivolumab efficacy in terms of ORR (20% vs 17%, P = 0.39) and DCR (47% vs 41%, P = 0.23). The median PFS and OS were 4 vs 3 months (P = 0.5) and 11.2 vs 10 months (P = 0.8) in the KRAS-positive vs the KRAS-negative group. The 3-months PFS rate was significantly higher in the KRAS-positive group as compared to the KRAS-negative group (53% vs 42%, P = 0.01). The percentage of any grade and grade 3–4 AEs were 45% vs 33% (P = 0.003) and 11% vs 6% (P = 0.03) in KRAS-positive and KRAS-negative groups, respectively. Conclusions: Nivolumab is an effective and safe treatment option for patients with previously treated, advanced non-squamous NSCLC regardless of KRAS mutations

Silicon photomultipliers: On ground characterizations and modelling for use in front-end electronics aimed to space-borne experiments

Abstract Silicon Photomultipliers (Si-PM) consist of an array of semiconductor photodiodes joint on the common substrate and operating in limited geiger mode. A new generation of Si-PM is currently under test in INFN Rome Tor Vergata facilities: they consist of a 5625 element, 3 * 3 mm 2 array with an improved light response. These elements have been characterized. Furthermore, a functional model of the Si-PM has been developed to be used in a VLSI development of front-end electronics