KubeNow: A Cloud Agnostic Platform for Microservice-Oriented Applications

KubeNow is a platform for rapid and continuous deployment of microservice-based applications over cloud infrastructure. Within the field of software engineering, the microservice-based architecture is a methodology in which complex applications are divided into smaller, more narrow services. These services are independently deployable and compatible with each other like building blocks. These blocks can be combined in multiple ways, according to specific use cases. Microservices are designed around a few concepts: they offer a minimal and complete set of features, they are portable and platform independent, they are accessible through language agnostic APIs and they are encouraged to use standard data formats. These characteristics promote separation of concerns, isolation and interoperability, while coupling nicely with test-driven development. Among many others, some well-known companies that build their software around microservices are: Google, Amazon, PayPal Holdings Inc. and Netflix [11]

Short course accelerated radiation therapy in palliative care

Palliative radiotherapy is a key resource for symptoms control and improvement patient's life expectancy in advanced stage of illness. The most common symptoms that afflict this type of patients are pain, bleeding, dysphagia, obstruction, vomiting, nausea. Most of these can benefit from a hypo-fractionated radiation treatment with a good percentage of complete responses, variable depending on the symptom considered, but on average 56-70%. Normally a hypo-fractionated treatment, excluding uncomplicated bone metastases where the single fraction (800 cGy in 1 fraction) is the standard, provides for 30 Gy delivered in 10 fractions (1 fraction / day) or 20 Gy in 5 fractions (1 fraction / day). SHARON Project (Short Course Accelerated Radiation Therapy), based on dose-escalation Phase I-II studies that defined the MDT (maximum tolerated dose), is made up of 7 randomized Phase III trials (1:1 on Simon's design) that aim to compare the effectiveness on the symptom control of a conventional hypo-fractionationated radiotherapy compared with an accelerated hypofractionationated treatment. 4 Specifically, the fractionation we propose provides the delivery of 4.5-5 Gy twice a day at a distance of 6-8 hours for two consecutive days. GTV will be identified by macroscopic lesion (detailed in the single protocol), CTV by GTV + a margin of 2 cm and the PTV from CTV + 1 cm of isotropic margin. There will be described the results of the Sharon-Bone Phase I-II trial, Sharon Head and Neck Phase I-II trial and Sharone Elderly (pooled analysis phase I-II trials) and the seven randomized Phase III trials for all the described body regions (Abdomen RT 15-01, Brain RT 15-02, Thorax RT 15-03, Pelvis RT 15-04, H&N RT 15-05, Bone RT 15-06, Esophagus RT 15-07

Improving the Integration between Palliative Radiotherapy and Supportive Care: A Narrative Review

Palliative radiotherapy (PRT) is known to be effective in relieving cancer related symptoms. However, many studies and clinical practice show several barriers hindering its use and worsening the quality of patient support during PRT. Various solutions were proposed to overcome these barriers: training on PRT for supportive and palliative care specialists and training on palliative care for radiation oncologists, and introduction of pathways and organizational models specifically dedicated to PRT. Evidence on innovative organizational models and mutual training experiences is few and sparse. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to present a quick summary of the information available on improving the PRT quality through training, new pathways, and innovative organizational models. The majority of studies on the integration of PRT with other palliative and supportive therapies present low levels of evidence being mostly retrospective analyses. However, it should be emphasized that all reports uniformly showed advantages coming from the integration of PRT with supportive therapies. To actively participate in the integration of PRT and palliative care, providing comprehensive support to the needs of patients with advanced cancer, radiation oncologists should not only plan PRT but also: (i) assess and manage symptoms and stress, (ii) rapidly refer patients to specialists in management of more complex symptoms, and (iii) participate in multidisciplinary palliative care teams. To this end, improved education in palliative care both in residency schools and during professional life through continuous medical education is clearly needed. In particular, effective training is needed for radiotherapy residents to enable them to provide patients with comprehensive palliative care. Therefore, formal teaching of adequate duration, interactive teaching methods, attendance in palliative care services, and education in advanced palliative care should be planned in post-graduated schools of radiotherapy

The vasa regulatory region mediates germline expression and maternal transmission of proteins in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae: a versatile tool for genetic control strategies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Germline specific promoters are an essential component of potential vector control strategies which function by genetic drive, however suitable promoters are not currently available for the main human malaria vector <it>Anopheles gambiae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have identified the <it>Anopheles gambiae vasa</it>-like gene and found its expression to be specifically localized to both the male and female gonads in adult mosquitoes. We have functionally characterised using transgenic reporter lines the regulatory regions required for driving transgene expression in a pattern mirroring that of the endogenous <it>vasa </it>locus. Two reporter constructs indicate the existence of distinct <it>vasa </it>regulatory elements within the 5' untranslated regions responsible not only for the spatial and temporal but also for the sex specific germline expression. <it>vasa </it>driven eGFP expression in the ovary of heterozygous mosquitoes resulted in the progressive accumulation of maternal protein and transcript in developing oocytes that were then detectable in all embryos and neonatal larvae.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have characterized the <it>vasa </it>regulatory regions that are not only suited to drive transgenes in the early germline of both sexes but could also be utilized to manipulate the zygotic genome of developing embryos via maternal deposition of active molecules. We have used computational models to show that a homing endonuclease-based gene drive system can function in the presence of maternal deposition and describe a novel non-invasive control strategy based on early <it>vasa </it>driven homing endonuclease expression.</p

Intracerebral administration of Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-18 modifies the course of mouse scrapie

BACKGROUND: Prion diseases are characterised by a neurodegenerative pattern in which the function of immune system remains still elusive. In the present study, we evaluate if an exogenous treatment with Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-18, able to activate microglia, is able to affect scrapie pathogenesis. RESULTS: Cytokines injected intracranially, induced a strong inflammatory response characterised by TNF-α production and microglia activation. Two groups of mice were injected intracerebrally with high dose of ME7 strain of scrapie containing IL-12 and IL-18 or sterile saline. Cytokines-treated mice showed a more pronounced accumulation of PrP(Sc )in brain tissues at 90 days post-inoculation and a shorter mean survival times than untreated mice. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that intracerebral administration of IL-12 and IL-18 can modulate scrapie pathogenesis possibly through a microglia-mediated pattern