Optimization of electric arc furnace aggregates replacement in dense-graded asphalt wearing courses

Electric arc furnace (EAF) aggregates, by-products of the homonymous steelmaking process, represent an ideal solution for asphalt mixtures, above all for wearing courses where skid resistance and durability are essential functional requirements. Their use, which is subordinate to the compliance of chemical specifications, finds some practical interest limits mainly related to transportation (extremely high bulk specific gravity) and placement (unsatisfactory compaction) operations. Thus, the aim of this experimental study was to determine an ideal artificial to natural aggregates replacement rate, also identifying the most suitable particle size range, for dense-graded asphalt wearing courses. The results highlighted how the best balance between compaction and mechanical performances was registered by a mix which was formulated considering a partial replacement of 54% (v/v%), distributed only in the coarsest fraction. The introduction of limestone as “excipient” in the coarse -fine and finer size ranges reduces the weight of the mixture, guaranteeing at the same time an optimum compaction degree, high levels of stiffness in the viscous-elastic region and Marshall stability and extended fatigue life

Use of bending beam rheometer test for rheological analysis of asphalt emulsion-cement mastics in cold in-place recycling

This paper focused on exploiting the potential of the bending beam rheometer (BBR) test for analyzing asphalt emulsion-cement (AEC) mastics tailored for cold in-place recycling applications in the first weeks of curing, i.e. phase which implies the coexistence of viscoelastic and brittle materials. A consistent modified BBR testing protocol, which includes the experimental solutions devised for the practical execution of these unconventional rheometric measurements (sample preparation and test procedure), was proposed. The authors suggested to introduce glass microspheres, acting as "inert solid skeleton", in the production of AEC mastics for BBR prismatic beams, to study the interaction between asphalt emulsion and cement in thin film and to limit the specimens' shrinkage and warpage during the curing period. Finally, a feasibility study for validating the new modified experimental setup was presented, highlighting, with an explanatory overview of the types of results that can be expected, the macroscopic behaviors of some AEC mastics as a function of different parameters (asphalt binder to cement ratio, curing time and temperature). (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Prevention of bisphosphonate-related mandibular fractures = Prevenzione delle fratture mandibolari conseguenti alla necrosi ossea da difosfonati

La frattura della mandibola rappresenta solitamente l\u2019evento finale nei pazienti che presentano una progressione della necrosi ossea derivante dall\u2019impiego dei difosfonati. Si tratta di una grave complicanza molto dolorosa che impedisce ai pazienti di alimentarsi correttamente, essendo pertanto un fattore che peggiora notevolmente la loro qualit\ue0 di vita. L\u2019obiettivo del trattamento dei pazienti che presentano la necrosi ossea legata ai difosfonati (BRONJ) dovrebbe essere rallentare la progressione della malattia. Presentiamo una soluzione tecnica per il trattamento dei pazienti che presentano necrosi mandibolare in stadio 3 ad alto rischio di sviluppare una frattura, avendo un\u2019altezza mandibolare residua di osso sano inferiore a 6 mm. Il trattamento consiste nel posizionamento di una placca ricostruttiva mandibolare per via extra-orale in un piano superficiale al muscolo platisma per tenere i mezzi di sintesi separati dal sito infettivo e non farli contaminare con conseguente necessit\ue0 di doverli rimuovere, seguito dal courettage per via endorale della necrosi mandibolare. Il rispetto della vascolarizzazione mandibolare e l\u2019assenza di contatto diretto tra il sito di osteonecrosi e la placca ricostruttiva rappresentano alcuni dei vantaggi di questa metodica. La placca ricostruttiva rinforza la mandibola e consente di aggredire energicamente l\u2019area di necrosi mandibolare, senza esporre il paziente a rischio di frattura iatrogena. Questo garantisce al paziente un rallentamento della progressione della malattia e impedisce la frattura patologica della mandibola, inevitabile epilogo delle necrosi ossee mandibolari.Mandibular fracture is usually the clinical end of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. This is a painful complication and patients cannot feed as usual, with a worsening of their quality of life. The goal of treatment in bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of jaw (BRONJ) patients is to slow progression of bone necrosis. We present a novel technique for treatment of severe mandibular BRONJ in stage 3 patients that present with a high risk to develop fracture, since they have a residual unaffected mandibular bone height less than 6 mm. We treated 10 patients in this clinical situation with an extra-oral application of a reconstructive plate superficial to the platysma, to keep the plate separated from the infected site to avoid contamination and consequent need of removal, followed by an intraoral approach for active curettage of mandibular necrosis. The preservation of blood supply to the mandible and avoidance of direct contact of the infected site with the reconstructive plate are some advantages of this technique. This plate allows enhancement of mandibular strength, allowing proper treatment of the BRONJ site on the oral side without fear of causing a mandibular fracture when the residual mandible is thin. This technical solution guarantees these patients an extended disease-free period since it is effective in preventing mandibular fractures in patients with low mandibular residual height left after the BRONJ onset

Prevenzione delle fratture mandibolari conseguenti alla necrosi ossea da difosfonati

La frattura della mandibola rappresenta solitamente l'evento finale nei pazienti che presentano una progressione della necrosi ossea derivante dall'impiego dei difosfonati. Si tratta di una grave complicanza molto dolorosa che impedisce ai pazienti di alimentarsi correttamente, essendo pertanto un fattore che peggiora notevolmente la loro qualità di vita. L'obiettivo del trattamento dei pazienti che presentano la necrosi ossea legata ai difosfonati (BRONJ) dovrebbe essere rallentare la progressione della malattia. Presentiamo una soluzione tecnica per il trattamento dei pazienti che presentano necrosi mandibolare in stadio 3 ad alto rischio di sviluppare una frattura, avendo un'altezza mandibolare residua di osso sano inferiore a 6 mm. Il trattamento consiste nel posizionamento di una placca ricostruttiva mandibolare per via extra-orale in un piano superficiale al muscolo platisma per tenere i mezzi di sintesi separati dal sito infettivo e non farli contaminare con conseguente necessità di doverli rimuovere, seguito dal courettage per via endorale della necrosi mandibolare. Il rispetto della vascolarizzazione mandibolare e l'assenza di contatto diretto tra il sito di osteonecrosi e la placca ricostruttiva rappresentano alcuni dei vantaggi di questa metodica. La placca ricostruttiva rinforza la mandibola e consente di aggredire energicamente l'area di necrosi mandibolare, senza esporre il paziente a rischio di frattura iatrogena. Questo garantisce al paziente un rallentamento della progressione della malattia e impedisce la frattura patologica della mandibola, inevitabile epilogo delle necrosi ossee mandibolari

Technical refinements in mandibular reconstruction with free fibula flaps: Outcome-oriented retrospective review of 99 cases = Accorgimenti tecnici nelle ricostruzioni mandibolari con lembi liberi di fibula: analisi retrospettiva dei risultati su 99 casi

Congenital disease, major trauma, tumour resection and biphosphonate-related osteonecrosis can lead to partial, subtotal, or total loss of the mandibular bone. Minor defects can be easily reconstructed using bone grafts, whereas microvascular free tissue transfer may be unavoidable in the case of major bone loss or poor quality of soft tissue. Simple bone or composite osteocutaneous fibula free flaps have proven invaluable and remain the workhorse for microvascular mandibular reconstruction in daily practice. Our experience with 99 consecutive fibular free flaps confirms the available data in terms of high success rate. In these cases, 90% had total success, while 7 had complete flap failures. Three of our patients showed skin paddle necrosis with bony conservation. This report focuses on the technical refinements used by the authors that can prove valuable in obtaining predictable and precise results: in particular, we discuss surgical techniques that avoid vascular pedicle ossification by removing the fibular periosteum from the vascular pedicle itself and reduce donor site morbidity and aid in management of the position in the new condylar fossa. Finally, new technologies such as intraoperative CT and custom premodelled fixation plates may also increase the predictability of morpho-functional results

Treatment challenges in and outside a specialist network setting: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours

Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms comprise a group of rare tumours with special biology, an often indolent behaviour and particular diagnostic and therapeutic requirements. The specialized biochemical tests and radiological investigations, the complexity of surgical options and the variety of medical treatments that require individual tailoring, mandate a multidisciplinary approach that can be optimally achieved through an organized network. The present study describes currents concepts in the management of these tumours as well as an insight into the challenges of delivering the pathway in and outside a Network

Treatment challenges in and outside a network setting: Head and neck cancers

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a rare disease that can affect different sites and is characterized by variable incidence and 5-year survival rates across Europe. Multiple factors need to be considered when choosing the most appropriate treatment for HNC patients, such as age, comorbidities, social issues, and especially whether to prefer surgery or radiation-based protocols. Given the complexity of this scenario, the creation of a highly specialized multidisciplinary team is recommended to guarantee the best oncological outcome and prevent or adequately treat any adverse effect. Data from literature suggest that the multidisciplinary team-based approach is beneficial for HNC patients and lead to improved survival rates. This result is likely due to improved diagnostic and staging accuracy, a more efficacious therapeutic approach and enhanced communication across disciplines. Despite the benefit of MTD, it must be noted that this approach requires considerable time, effort and financial resources and is usually more frequent in highly organized and high-volume centers. Literature data on clinical research suggest that patients treated in high-accrual centers report better treatment outcomes compared to patients treated in low-volume centers, where a lower radiotherapy-compliance and worst overall survival have been reported. There is general agreement that treatment of rare cancers such as HNC should be concentrated in high volume, specialized and multidisciplinary centers. In order to achieve this goal, the creation of international collaboration network is fundamental. The European Reference Networks for example aim to create an international virtual advisory board, whose objectives are the exchange of expertise, training, clinical collaboration and the reduction of disparities and enhancement of rationalize migration across Europe. The purpose of our work is to review all aspects and challenges in and outside this network setting planned for the management of HNC patients

Testicular germ-cell tumours and penile squamous cell carcinoma: Appropriate management makes the difference

Germ-cell tumours (GCT) of the testis and penile squamous cell carcinoma (PeSCC) are a rare and a very rare uro-genital cancers, respectively. Both tumours are well defined entities in terms of management, where specific recommendations - in the form of continuously up-to-dated guide lines-are provided. Impact of these tumour is relevant. Testicular GCT affects young, healthy men at the beginning of their adult life. PeSCC affects older men, but a proportion of these patients are young and the personal consequences of the disease may be devastating. Deviation from recommended management may be a reason of a significant prognostic worsening, as proper treatment favourably impacts on these tumours, dramatically on GCT and significantly on PeSCC. RARECAREnet data may permit to analyse how survivals may vary according to geographical areas, histology and age, leading to assume that non-homogeneous health-care resources may impact the cure and definitive outcomes. In support of this hypothesis, some epidemiologic datasets and clinical findings would indicate that survival may improve when appropriate treatments are delivered, linked to a different accessibility to the best health institutions, as a consequence of geographical, cultural and economic barriers. Finally, strong clues based on epidemiological and clinical data support the hypothesis that treatment delivered at reference centres or under the aegis of a qualified multi-institutional network is associated with a better prognosis of patients with these malignancies. The ERN EURACAN represents the best current European effort to answer this clinical need

Characteristics of the colorectal cancers diagnosed in the early 2000s in Italy. Figures from the IMPATTO study on colorectal cancer screening

The impact of organized screening programmes on colorectal cancer (CRC) can be observed at a population level only several years after the implementation of screening. We compared CRC characteristics by diagnostic modality (screen-detected, non-screen-detected) as an early outcome to monitor screening programme effectiveness. Data on CRCs diagnosed in Italy from 2000 to 2008 were collected by several cancer registries. Linkage with screening datasets made it possible to divide the cases by geographic area, implementation of screening, and modality of diagnosis (screen-detected, non-screen-detected).We compared the main characteristics of the different subgroups of CRCs through multivariate logistic regression models. The study included 23,668 CRCs diagnosed in subjects aged 50-69 years, of which 11.9%were screendetected (N=2,806), all from the North-Centre of Italy. Among screen-detected CRCs, we observed a higher proportion of males, of cases in the distal colon, and a higher mean age of the patients. Compared with pre-screening cases, screen-detected CRCs showed a better distribution by stage at diagnosis (OR for stage III or IV: 0.40, 95%CI: 0.36-0.44) and grading (OR for poorly differentiated CRCs was 0.86, 95%CI: 0.75-1.00). Screen-detected CRCs have more favourable prognostic characteristics than non-screen-detected cases. A renewed effort to implement screening programmes throughout the entire country is recommended