Iron Overload in Patients Receiving Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Quantification of Iron Burden by a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) and Therapeutic Effectiveness of Phlebotomy

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Capecitabine plus gemcitabine in thymic epithelial tumors: final analysis of a Phase II trial

Background: A multi-institutional Phase II trial was initiated in 2005 to test the combination gemcitabine and capecitabine in patients with thymic epithelial malignancies (TETs). Patients & methods: Patients with histologic confirmation of TET diagnosis by central review who had received >1 systemic chemotherapy treatment were included. Patients received oral capecitabine (650 mg/mq twice daily on days 1-14) and intravenous gemcitabine (1000 mg/mq on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks). Results: Of the 30 patients included (18 men, 12 women; median age: 57 years, range: 48-61 years), the majority (73%) had thymoma, and the remaining thymic carcinoma. Eight patients developed grade 3-4 neutropenia. A total of 12 patients had a response. Median progression-free survival was 11 months (range: 6.5-16.5). Conclusion: Capecitabine and gemcitabine is highly active in TETs

Exploratory findings from a prematurely closed international, multicentre, academic trial: RAVELLO, a phase III study of regorafenib versus placebo as maintenance therapy after first-line treatment in RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer

Background In patients with RAS wild-type (WT) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), the role of maintenance therapy after first-line treatment with chemotherapy plus antiepidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) is still an object of debate. Methods We assessed the efficacy and safety of regorafenib as a switch maintenance strategy after upfront 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy plus an anti- EGFR MoAb in patients with RAS WT mCRC. RAVELLO was a phase III, international, double-blind, placebocontrolled, academic trial. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall survival and toxicity. Regorafenib or placebo were administered daily for 3 weeks of 4-week cycle until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, up to 24 months. Results The study was stopped prematurely due to slow accrual and lack of funding after the randomisation of 21 patients: 11 in the regorafenib arm and 10 in the placebo arm. The small sample size precludes any statistical analysis. Toxicity was acceptable and consistent with the known regorafenib safety profile. Median PFS was similar in the two arms. However, a subgroup of patients treated with regorafenib experienced a remarkably long PFS. Three patients were progression free at 9 months in the regorafenib arm versus one patient in the placebo arm, whereas at 12 months two regorafenib-treated patients were still progression free versus none in the placebo arm. Conclusion RAVELLO trial demonstrated that growing financial and bureaucratic hurdles affect the feasibility of independent academic research. Although stopped prematurely and within the limited sample size, RAVELLO suggests that regorafenib has not a major activity in maintenance setting after upfront chemotherapy and anti-EGFR MoAb. However, a subgroup of patients experienced a remarkable long PFS, indicating that a better refinement of the patient population would help to identify subjects that might benefit from a regorafenib personalised approach in the switch maintenance settin

Leonardo's Literary Writings: History, Genre, Philosophy

This dissertation examines Leonardo da Vinci’s literary writings, namely those known as the Bestiario, Favole, Facezie, and Profezia, as compelling expressions of how Leonardo envisioned the role and influence of morality in human life. Through an analysis of these four literary collections from the perspective of their genre history, literariness, and philosophical dimension, it aims to bring to light the depth with which Leonardo reflected upon the human condition. The Bestiario, Favole, Facezie, and Profezia are writings that have considerable literary value in their own right but can also be examined in a wider historical, literary, and philosophical context so as to reveal the ethical ideas that they convey. By studying them from a historical perspective, it is possible to contextualize Leonardo’s four collections within the tradition of their respective genres (the bestiary, fable, facetia, and riddle) and thus recognize their adherence as well as contribution to these traditions. The literary context brings to light Leonardo’s intentionality and ingenuity as a writer who uses generic conventions in order to voice his ethical views. Assessed from a philosophical standpoint, these four literary collections prove to be meaningful reflections on the moral state of humanity, thereby justifying the characterization of Leonardo as a moral philosopher. Current scholarship on the Bestiario, Favole, Facezie, and Profezia generally views these writings as minor Leonardo works and treats them as ancillary parts of his production. This dissertation, conceiving Leonardo as a moral philosopher, provides interpretations that lead to the conclusion that his thought pervades both his major and minor works and that these literary writings must be viewed as an extension (and result) of Leonardo’s greater notions of the world and of how all parts relate to one another. The Bestiario, Favole, Facezie, and Profezia are works that deserve greater attention reflecting as they do the thought of this Renaissance man.Ph

Leonardo’s Profezia: Moral Writings of a Hybrid Kind

In the period 1490-99, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) wrote nearly three hundred literary writings that were later compiled by scholars into four primary collections: the Bestiario, Favole, Facezie, and Profezia. This article takes Leonardo’s Profezia as its main subject in order to give due recognition to the generic nature of this collection. Specifically, it examines the texts in the Profezia as examples of mixed genre in an attempt to demonstrate how ethos, context, and generic convention yield to the greater moral statement made by Leonardo in the writings themselves. Unlike Leonardo’s other three literary collections, which subscribe to an easily identifiable literary genre, the Profezia texts are hybrid writings that enjoin its readers to consider instead why and how the mixture of forms might be a necessary means of expression to convey a truth and reality

Il Bestiario : scienza e letteratura in Leonardo da Vinci

Le Bestiaire de Leonard de Vinci (datable aux alentours de 1493-1494) est une oeuvre qui s'inscrit dans le cadre de la complexe tradition litteraire-scientifique tout en etant, de plusiers facons, differenciee par rapport au corpus a facettes des ouvrages de Vinci. L'analyse des sources (le Fiore di virtu, l'Acerba de Cecco d'Ascoli, l'Histoire naturelle de Pline, et d'autres textes inspires au Physiologus grec) constitue la premiere partie de l'etude, ou grande place est donnee aux innovations de Leonard. Dans la deuxieme partie les aspects scientifiques et litteraires, qui sont presents simultanement dans l'oeuvre, viennent ainsi examines minutieusement dans l'intention de demontrer que le Bestiaire ne constitue pas simplement un emprunt aux sources, mais est plutot une contribution originale a la tradition dont elle fait partie et dont on ressent la touche creative de Leonard et l'universalite de sa pensee

Theoretical and Practical Issues in Designing a Blended e-learning Course of English as a Foreign Language

The aim of this chapter is to provide an outline of the main theoretical issues in the field of Self-Regulated Learning which have inspired the design and implementation of a blended learning course of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at the University of Salerno. In particular, the first part of the chapter focuses on some key concepts concerning meaningful learning, self-regulated learning, as well as e-learning in academic settings, as basic components to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). The second part of the chapter is devoted to the description of the sequencing and progression of our syllabus design in line with the principles/guidelines for “good teaching practices for using Technology Mediated Instruction (TMI)”. KEYWORDS second language acquisition, blended learning, meaningful learning, self-regulated learning, adult learnin