Out-patient high-dose-rate endobronchial brachytherapy for palliation of lung cancer: an observational study

Background and Aim. Out-patient high-dose-rate endobronchial brachytherapy (HDREB) is a possible option in the palliation of symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer, but literature data is limited and the technique is still under development in Italy. Our aim was to evaluate safety and effectiveness of out-patient HDREB for palliation of malignant endobronchial tumours in the context of a multidisciplinary approach. Methods. Out-patient HDREB sessions were scheduled at weekly intervals (500-1000 cGy per session) with prior Diodi-laser resection in some cases. Response was assessed bronchoscopically, clinically and functionally at the end of treatment and one month after the last HDREB session. Inclusion criteria was: histological evidence of malignant tumour not susceptible to surgical treatment for extension or co-morbidity. Results. 150 outpatient HDREB sessions were carried out on consecutive 35 patients (mean age 69 yrs, M/F 29/6) with symptoms due to central airway obstruction. A shortterm endoscopic response was observed in 15/28 patients. After delivering 2000 cGy dyspnoea decreased significantly. After one month cough decreased and haemoptysis disappeared. Palliation was obtained in all patients except one during. Lung function tests did not significantly improve after HDREB. No fatal complication occurred. A temporary radiation bronchitis was observed in six patients. Conclusions. This non-comparative, prospective observational study showed a palliative response of HDREB in most of patients with advanced endoluminal lung cancer. The safety of the procedure was good and the rate of non-fatal serious complications was very low

Style modification in breast and Colorectal Cancer Patients: results of a pilot study Long-Survivors

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Impact of gastro-oesophageal reflux on microRNA expression, location and function

We have shown that miRNA expression is altered in the oesophageal squamous mucosa from individuals with gastro-oesophageal reflux and ulcerative oesophagitis. These changes in miR-143, miR-145 and miR-205 expression appear to be most pronounced in the basal layer of the oesophageal epithelium. In the context of gastro-oesophageal reflux these expression changes might influence proliferation and apoptosis and thereby regulate epithelial restoration. It is reasonable to hypothesise that they could represent early molecular events preceding the development of Barrett’s oesophagus, although proving this will require further studies as described above. Future detailed analyses of the role of these miRNAs in progression from gastro-oesophageal reflux to Barrett’s oesophagus, and then to oesophageal adenocarcinoma will be valuable, and may help in efforts to control and treat these diseases.This study was funded by a Competing Project Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. Cameron Smith was supported by a PROBE-NET PhD scholarship funded by a Strategic research Partnerships Grant from the Cancer Council of New South Wales

A Profit-Maximizing Approach for Transmission Expansion Planning Using a Revenue-Cap Incentive Mechanism

This paper proposes an incentive mechanism for transmission expansion planning. The mechanism is a bilevel program. The upper level is a profit-maximizing transmission company (Transco) which expands its transmission system while endogenously predicts and influences the generation investment. The lower level is the optimal generation dispatch and investment. The Transco funds its transmission investment costs by collecting merchandising surplus and charging a fixed fee to consumers. The Transco is subject to a revenue cap set by the regulator. This mechanism is formulated as a mixed-integer, quadratically-constrained program (MIQCP) and applied to modified Garver and IEEE 24-node systems. The results of proposed approach have been compared with the welfare-maximum benchmark and cases of Transco with cost-plus regulation and no regulation. In all tested cases, the proposed approach results in welfare-maximum outcomes while the other regulatory approaches fail to produce welfare-maximum outcomes. The profit-maximizing approach has also been successful in cases where transmission investment is driven by demand growth and reactive Transco

Modelo disjuntivo de expansão ótima de redes de transmissão em sistemas hidrotérmicos

Apresenta-se um modelo de otimização inteira mista para expansão da rede de transmissão de um sistema hidrotérmico, no qual se representam as metas de geração hidro no ano de estudo para diversas condições hidrológicas, e também as condições de atendimento das demandas, representadas de forma discretizada em patamares. A formulação disjuntiva do problema aqui adotada evita a não linearidade usual na segunda lei de Kirchoff envolvendo produtos entre variáveis de investimento e de ângulos nodais. A representação detalhada das condições operativas ao longo do ano garante um correto dimensionamento dos reforços de transmissão de sistemas hidrotérmicos. As condições operativas e o despacho são afetadas pelos intercâmbios entre regiões, que podem variar sazonalmente com a condição hidrológica e também com a condição de carga. Um exemplo real ilustra a aplicação do modelo.<br>We present a mixed integer optimization model for expansion planning of the transmission network of a hydrothermal system, where hydro generation targets along the planning year are enforced, as well as supplying the load for different load levels. The disjunctive formulation adopted here avoids the non-linear relation that appears in second Kirchoff’s law involving the product of discrete investment variables and continuous nodal angle variables. The detailed representation of operating conditions and generation dispatch along the study year allows a correct design of network reinforcements of a hydrothermal system. The operating conditions and the dispatch are affected by interchanges among regions, which can vary seasonally due to hydrological conditions and also along the load duration curve. A real world example illustrates the model

Parallel Grasp With Path-Relinking For Job Shop Scheduling

In the job shop scheduling problem (JSP), a finite set of jobs is processed on a finite set of machines. Each job is required to complete a set of operations in a fixed order. Each operation is processed on a specific machine for a fixed duration. A machine can process no more than one job at a time and once a job initiates processing on a given machine it must complete processing without interruption. A schedule is an assignment of operations to time slots on the machines. The objective of the JSP is to find a schedule that minimizes the maximum completion time, or makespan, of the jobs. In this paper, we describe a parallel greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) with path-relinking for the JSP. A GRASP is a metaheuristic for combinatorial optimization. It usually consists of a construction procedure based on a greedy randomized algorithm and of a local search. Path-relinking is an intensification strategy that explores trajectories that connect high quality solutions. Independent and cooperative parallelization strategies are described and implemented. Computational experience on a large set of standard test problems indicates that the parallel GRASP with path-relinking finds goodquality approximate solutions of the job shop scheduling problem

Avvelenamenti dolosi: quanta conoscenza, quale percezione?

Nell\u2019intento di valutare la conoscenza e la percezione della popolazione riguardo al fenomeno dell'avvelenamento doloso degli animali, \ue8 stata realizzata un'indagine pilota presso cinque Centri Commerciali di Padova e provincia. I risultati ottenuti rivelano un'incompleta conoscenza della problematica, associata alla diffusa convinzione della necessit\ue0 di operare sforzi concreti al fine di contrastare il fenomeno in esame. La fascia d'et\ue0 che dimostra una minore consapevolezza del problema \ue8 rappresentata dai giovani; i proprietari di animali domestici non risultano essere maggiormente al corrente dei vari aspetti concernenti il fenomeno trattato rispetto alla media degli intervistati. Emerge, inoltre, una mancata correlazione tra la modalit\ue0 di veicolare l'informazione riguardante l'esistenza della problematica e la conoscenza della stessa, indice questo di una possibile inadeguatezza dei mezzi di comunicazione. Allo scopo di implementare la conoscenza del fenomeno, si ritiene che la scuola e gli ambulatori veterinari potrebbero essere dei luoghi chiave per svolgere una futura campagna d\u2019informazione. E\u2019 auspicabile, inoltre, che si determini un flusso di informazioni tra enti di ricerca (Universit\ue0, Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali) e mezzi di comunicazione, allo scopo di aumentare la conoscenza della problematica da parte della popolazione e di fornire nozioni utili ad affrontare pi\uf9 efficacemente tale fenomeno